Past Events

2018

A City Inscribed and IAR Lunar New Year event. Registration is strongly encouraged. Over the decades there have been many encounters between members of the Hollywood and Hong Kong entertainment industries such as film collaborations and co-productions. In comparing the two industries, stark differences including their size, scope, and relationship to the state are evident. Yet, production ethnography reveals that the... Read more

Come Celebrate the Year of the Dog With Us! Featuring student performances, speeches and light refreshments. This event will be followed by a lecture by Dr. Sylvia J. Martin on the Transnational Ties Between the Hollywood and Hong Kong Entertainment Industries at 1:30pm. For more information on that event, please click here. Please RSVP early as... Read more

A City Inscribed event. Registration is strongly encouraged. Scholars and pundits continue to discuss the issue of Hong Kong’s right to self-determination under Chinese rule even after the Umbrella Movement has ended. The one perspective that frames the conflicts between Hong Kong and China in nationalist terms has attracted much attention in particular. The city’s inability to implement direct... Read more

The Japanese government recognized the Ainu people as Indigenous People of Japan in 2008 and is now working on to develop comprehensive Ainu policies. The lecture deals with the possibility of special policy measures for the Indigenous Ainu under the Japanese Constitution which has no articles recognizing the presence of any ethnic minorities nor group... Read more

About the Speaker: Dr. Yoshimi Shunya is a Professor of Sociology, Cultural Studies, and Media Studies. He is the author of many books on cultural theory, urban culture, international exposition, media culture, information technology, the emperor system, and Americanization in modern Japan and East Asia. He has been a leading scholar in the field of Media and... Read more

A City Inscribed event. Registration is strongly encouraged. Hong Kong is internationally renowned for its density, often depicted by images of the dramatic skyline of Hong Kong Island with Victoria Harbor in the foreground and the Peak behind. However, for those who are more familiar with the city, another image is likely more representative: that of the city’s animated,... Read more

Event Poster | RSVP Organized through a partnership between the Departments of Theatre and Film and Asian Studies, and made possible by the Onkarbir Singh Toor Memorial Punjabi Studies Enhancement Fund and the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, with the support of the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Program, the Centre for India... Read more

The reconstruction of the extraordinary, and very normal, lives of a Chinese American couple. Join us to watch “Random Acts of Legacy”, a film by Ali Kazimi of York University, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker. Event Poster | RSVP Co-sponsored by the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Program and the Department of... Read more

Historians have called wartime Japan a racist polity and the Asia-Pacific War a “race war” saturated by “race hate.” This talk will challenge the “race war” thesis by arguing that “wartime Japan” was a more ideologically divided polity than is generally recognized, and use the experiences of resident Eurasians to demonstrate a pervasive racial ambivalence among Japanese citizens. Read more

Abstract: At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party, Xi Jinping made it clear that he would lead China into a new era and, by implication, put an end to the Dengist period of ‘opening up and reform’ as well as ‘hiding capabilities and bidding for time’. This talk starts with the premise that... Read more

The social and political importance of families and family continuity transcended the Tokugawa-Meiji divide. This talk focuses on a common strategy for preserving a family line: the adoption of heirs, especially the adoption of sons-in-law. Read more

A year has passed since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Join us for a conference that will gather experts on the relationship between the United States, Japan and Canada, and discuss the changes and their implication for Japan as well as Canada. Read more

Join the UBC Himalaya Program for a roundtable discussion about health policy and practice in Nepal. Medical and public health professionals from UBC, University of Victoria, and the University of Washington explore the challenges and opportunities of working in Nepal, across fields including emergency care, family practice, health education, midwifery, and mental health. Read more

What better way to start the term right than to kick it off with a celebration of culture and cuisine? The SEA club Execs are proud to present the first “Taste of SEA” Event, held at the AMS Nest. Come out and try the great food of South East Asia and be prepared to have a blast! Read more

This talk probes into the transnational exchange of remakes between China and Korea. It examines the case of Chinese remake of Korean television content and explores the potential degradation of Korean culture by the wealthier Chinese media entrepreneurs who are appropriating and purchasing Korean variety shows as remake properties. Read more

Join Ayaka Yoshimizu as she discusses her ongoing research on cultural memories of ameyuki-san, Japanese women who engaged in sex work in North America at the turn of the 20th century. She brings to light stories of ameyuki-san’s rebellious acts as found in Tairiku Nippo, an early Japanese language newspaper, and presents them as unsettling memories that refuse discursive containment and a closure. Read more

Join us to hear Sebastian Prange of UBC Department of History talk about the mosques of Kerala. This talk will highlight different layers of evidence that are yielded by these mosques—stylistic features, architectural changes, epigraphs, literary references, historical context—to show that their significance extends far beyond their immediate purpose as places of worship. Rather, they serve as primary sources for the development of Muslim communities in South India, their links to wider Indian Ocean networks, and the place of Islam within this predominantly Hindu society. Read more

The UBC Hong Kong Studies Initiative is pleased to present “City Inscribed,” a series of public lectures and events in celebration of the launch of “Literature of Hong Kong” (ASIA 324) at the University of British Columbia. All lectures and events are free and open to the public and are, unless otherwise noted (*), conducted in English. Read more

IAR Public Forum “Getting North Korea Right: Canadian Options and Roles” The situation on the Korean peninsula looms as a major threat to global peace and stability in the coming year. On the eve of the Vancouver meeting of foreign ministers hosted by Chrystia Freeland and Rex Tillerson on January 16th, we are convening an... Read more

In this presentation, Andrea Globa will provide information about the programs Mitacs offers to support international collaborations, with a focus on an award that supports student travel to the India Institutes of Technology. Students from all disciplines are welcome to apply: in addition to STEM subjects, many of the IITs maintain strong programs in the social sciences and humanities. Read more

UBC Centre for Japanese Research (CJR) is pleased to announce its Annual Open House Reception! We welcome anyone interested in Japan to join us for light refreshments and traditional Japanese dishes while learning about the diverse events related to Japan that the CJR hosts throughout the year. Read more

Through a close reading of Japanese public works projects in precolonial and colonial Korea — focusing on railway construction and street improvement projects — this talk by Professor Tristan R. Grunow maps the intersection of imperialism and the environment. Read more

Join Professor Michael Hunter as he introduces Ten Thousand Rooms, an open source platform developed at Yale University with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which gives users the tools to collaboratively transcribe, translate, and annotate pre-modern sources. Read more

For over a century, the Warring States Masters (Kongzi, Laozi, Mozi, Mengzi, etc.) and their texts have dominated the modern imagination of early Chinese thought. But how reliable is the “Masters Narrative,” and is there a better way of telling the story? Join Professor Michael Hunter as he explores what the story of Warring States thought might look like with the Odes (as opposed to the Analects) as its foundational text. Read more

An information session hosted by Douglas Ober, Research Associate, UBC IAR One of the more curious incidents in the making of modern India occurred on the eve of Independence when a group of seventy-two women entered New Delhi’s Constituent Assembly and unfurled the newly chosen national flag. In a last minute change decided only three weeks prior, the Gandhian charkha or spinning wheel, was replaced by... Read more

Abstract This talk starts from the premise that we should take synchrony seriously—that co-movements in places and social domains we have assumed to be separate may offer clues to unexpected unities. The global contexts of Japan’s Meiji revolution invite this type of approach. To grasp the co-development of global and domestic histories, this talk investigates... Read more

We sometimes hear regional clichés or impressions in our daily life. Some of them may even make us feel uncomfortable. In a metropolis with huge diversity, we inevitably, more or less, face the situations when we are represented by the region where we come from. Some of these regional stereotypes could make us impressive, but... Read more

Abstract: Despite heavy criticism, Japan’s criminal conviction rate continues to remain over 99.8%. Some researchers argue that Japanese Judges tend to accept public prosecutors’ allegations without analyzing evidence, but is this true? In this talk Mr. Takai will explain why such views reflect a stereotypic misunderstanding of the Japanese criminal justice process. This will be... Read more

One of the hallmarks of the 2014 prodemocracy occupy protests in Hong Kong known as the Umbrella Movement was the presence of Christians doing theology on the streets, sometimes fused with Cantonese hero traditions. But in the aftermath of the movement, how has the relationship between theology and politics developed, especially in a time of... Read more

Each New Year, Japan’s imperial court hosts a ceremony for members of the imperial family and general public to read waka poems they had composed on a preannounced theme. ​In this presentation, Gideon Fujiwara chronicles the history of the Utakai hajime and the work of kokugaku (nativist) scholars in early Meiji to petition for public participation in this event. Read more

In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu became the Shogun and ruler of all Japan. His economic and trading policies served well to strengthen his position, however the repercussions that was felt in the trading environments of the time brought to the fore incredible paradoxes that will be addressed in this presentation by Maria Grazia Petrucci. Read more

Join Dr. Stephen Noerper as he explores the progression of North Korea's security challenge since the end of the Cold War and the various tacks and turns of four US presidencies. In addressing the recent Trump trip to Asia, including his messaging on India-pacific unity and North Korea, Dr. Noerper will also examine US policy and potential next-steps toward negotiation. Read more

Join us for a conversation with two acclaimed Himalayan authors: Manjushree Thapa and Tsering Wangmo Dhompa! They will be discussing their recently published novels, short stories, and non-fiction, considering what it means to represent Nepal and Tibet in the English-language literary scene. Read more

Taiwan in the 1960s and 1970s was a very different place, almost unrecognizable to today’s young people or to people who visit for the first time in the 21st century. Through the eyes of an ethnographer, this talk describes the very different worlds of urban Taipei and rural north Taiwan in the late 1960s and 1970s,... Read more

Professor Busch shares highlights from a book project on “Aesthetic Worlds of the Indian Heroine” that explores Mughal India’s deep engagement with classical aesthetics through paintings and poems about female beauty. Read more

Join H.E Konstantin Zhigalov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Canada, as he speaks on the geo-strategic importance of Kazakhstan to one of China’s key projects: the One Belt One Road initiative. This is an exciting opportunity for students, faculty, research and the community to learn more about academic issues related to Central Asia! Read more

Abstract: Going to Japan as an exchange student, graduate or research student?Join us for a very good opportunity to learn about the possibility of studying in Japan. You will be able to meet students who actually went to Japan as an exchange student or as a graduate/research student and ask any questions about qualifications, procedures... Read more

Join us for the screening of two short documentaries by the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI: Insitut Seni Indonesia), based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A discussion focused on Indonesian women's history, social memory and national identity will follow. Read more

Despite recent macroeconomic growth during the last 14 years, Eastern Indonesia is still plagued by persistent income poverty and rising income inequalities. This presentation argues the root of the problem is extractive traditional social institutions, using the indigenous hereditary slavery institution in Sumba and the caste system in Bali as case studies. Read more

Excrement was a hot commodity in the cities of nineteenth-century Japan. The widespread use of night soil as an organic fertilizer meant that residents of cities such as Tokyo and Osaka could sell their waste rather than simply dispose of it. Join Dr. David L. Howell as he discusses the night-soil economy in nineteenth-century Japan. Read more

Abstract: Historical literature often suggests that Japanese people hold harmony and group solidarity in high regard. Tokugawa-period agreements, or what I call Bonds of Trust (tanomi shōmon), shed light on the mechanisms and guiding principles that buttress social cohesion in early modern Japan. The Bonds of Trust were written promises primarily used to elicit and... Read more

Summery Special economic zones represent new communities, approximately 100 million people and workers and are the economic engines of Southeast Asia. During this session, I will share professional experience in working across several special economic zones within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). I will also introduce new work initiated by the Asian Development Bank that... Read more

Join us for this annual lecture on Dr. Ambedkar by Dr. Vivek Kumar. Dr. Vivek Kumar is a Professor of Sociology & Professor Dr. Ambedkar Chair (I/C), Member Committee on Global Studies Programme in the Center for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. This event is co-sponsored by Chetna... Read more

In the early 1970s, a new operatic style based on the North Korean ideology of self-reliance emerged. The first, titled 'Sea of Blood', emerged, marking a high point in North Korean artistic production. Join Professor Keith Howard as he analyses this style of opera that remains highly celebrated today. Read more

Based on 30 months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2013-2017 in Minami-soma city, this talk examines how residents’ lives in post-nuclear disaster coastal Fukushima have been impacted by natural and technological disaster and its associated techno-sensory politics of nuclear “things." Read more

Two of the most commonly alleged features of Japanese society are its homogeneity and its encouragement of conformity. Join Peter Nosco as he challenges these a number of other long-standing assumptions regarding Tokugawa (1600-1868) society, thus opening a dialogue regarding the relationship between the Japan of two centuries ago and the present. Read more

Amy Hanser will be lecturing on the emerging culture of intensive mothering among middle-class, urban Chinese women that focuses on infant feeding. She suggests that the linkage between breastfeeding and motherhood represents a “gendered burden” for Chinese women and that infant feeding has become important, early terrain on which new mothers grapple with their own and others’ expectations about mothering and caring for a child. Read more

The issue of whether government should regulate hate speech has become a pressing problem in Japan, where the number of xenophobic groups has been increasing rapidly since the early 2000’s. Professor Shinji Higaki outlines frameworks of the Hate Speech Elimination Act and other laws relating to hate speech and analyzes some of their issues in this presentation. Read more

Join us for a Policy@UBC series dialogue on “The Global Future of Nuclear Energy” with M.V. Ramana, Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security with the UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. This talk will describe the current status of nuclear energy in different countries around the world and the evolution of... Read more

UBC Himalaya Program is hosting a talk which will consider the topic of incarnate lamas (tulkus)—births of the same awakened consciousness in successive human bodies—focusing on the literary depictions of these practices in Tibetan literature. Read more

Venerable Pomnyun Sunim is one of the most recognized and influential religious leaders in South Korea with an active following. Join him for a casual conversation about live, love, success, happiness and meaning. Read more

As more people move across borders in pursuit of a “Good Life,” Asia is becoming increasingly diverse or multicultural. I argue that political elites in non-socialist Northeast Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia refer to two conceptualizations of moral personhood derived mostly from Confucian and Theravada Buddhist ideas in dealing with an increasing ethnic plurality and... Read more

Artists’ Roundtable Date: September 29, 2017 Time: 3:00PM – 5:00PM Location: Asian Centre Auditorium, 1871 West Mall Join artists curator Raghavendra Rao K.V., and members of the South Asian Canadian Histories Association to explore this artistic intervention in the story of Canada at 150+. Sameer Farooq’s work for the exhibition, entitled Pouf, Sausage, Weight, Arc... Read more

With the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, the IAR is co-hosting a round-table on the One Belt One Road. Limited seating. If you have an interest in attending, please contact Karen at karen.jew (at) ubc.ca. Read more

Speaker: Dr. Chris Goto-Jones Educated in Cambridge, Keio (Tokyo), and Oxford Universities, host Chris Goto-Jones is Professor in Philosophy and Dean of Humanities at University of Victoria. He is also a Professorial Research Fellow at SOAS, University of London, and a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for International Studies at Oxford University. He was... Read more

Join Ken Ruoff, professor of modern East Asian history and director of the Center for Japanese Studies at Portland State University, as he examines the history of the monarchy in modern Japan, with a particular focus the pluralistic manner in which the political right has interpreted the monarchy in postwar Japan. Read more

Despite playing a key contributory role in China’s recent economic reforms and the Party’s regime durability, there has been a noted reduction in central-level policy experimentation under Xi Jinping’s administration. Although these changes at the central-level are filtering down to local officials, a great deal of variation in policy experimentation exists. How do local officials filter these institutional changes to the extent of observed variations in local policy innovation? Read more

Educated in Cambridge, Keio (Tokyo), and Oxford Universities, host Chris Goto-Jones is Professor in Philosophy and Dean of Humanities at University of Victoria. He is also a Professorial Research Fellow at SOAS, University of London, and a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for International Studies at Oxford University. He was previously Professor of Comparative Philosophy & Political Thought and Professor of Modern Japan Studies at Leiden University (The Netherlands). Read more

This study conducts a critical discourse analysis on English language Western social media such as Facebook through the “eyes of Japanese EFL university students”, focusing on thematic issues specifically related to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. The main research participants are Japanese EFL students studying at the University of Aizu, Fukushima, Japan, who... Read more

Join Dr. Sender Dovchin, Associate Professor at the Centre for Language Research at The University of Aizu, Japan as she presents her research on the "linguascapes” of young adults situated on the Asian periphery, focusing specifically on Mongolia, in online and offline environments. Read more

The emigration of Japanese farmers to Manchuria in the 1930s and 1940s is often taken as a sign of popular support for empire and fascism. Join Christopher Craig as he examines the case of the Miyagi village of Nango, to demonstrate how this may not have entirely been true. Read more

Join Stephan Haggard, the Krause Distinguished Professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego, as he argues that both sanctions and engagement efforts have had little impact on the North Korean grand strategy, suggesting what would have to change for denuclearization and a broader settlement on the peninsula. Read more

To most ethnomusicologists, music is a social activity with the main goal of interacting with an audience. China’s qin music, often associated with the literati who play primarily for themselves as a private activity, is an exception. Join Bell Yung, Professor Emeritus of Music of the University of Pittsburgh, an ethnomusicologist specializing on China, at this event! Read more

In 1926, the blind singer Dou Wun arrived in Hong Kong from Guangzhou at the age of sixteen. Join Professor Bell Yung as he shares with us the images and recordings of Dou Wun's 1975 performance at the Fu Lung Teahouse in Hong Kong. Read more

Join us for the launch of Rea and Rusk's vivid and entertaining new translation of The Book of Swindles! Compiled by an obscure writer from southern China in the 17th Century, this book presents a fascinating tableau of criminal ingenuity in the late Ming period. Read more

As more people move across borders in pursuit of a “Good Life,” Asia is becoming increasingly diverse or multicultural. I argue that political elites in non-socialist Northeast Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia refer to two conceptualizations of moral personhood derived mostly from Confucian and Theravada Buddhist ideas in dealing with an increasing ethnic plurality and... Read more

Please note that this discussion will be held in Nepali, with Q&A to follow. Jeevan Baniya, Researcher at Social Science Baha, a not-for profit research organization in Nepal; Subin Mulmi a Lawyer and Researcher working on issues related to human rights; Dinesh Paudel, Assistant Professor in the Sustainable Development Department at Appalachian State University; and Deepak Thapa, Director of the Social Science Baha, a Kathmandu-based research organisation, will be speaking at the event. Read more

A two-day conference to examine and document the history, settlement patterns and contributions of Bengalis to Canada, and BC in particular. Featuring Dr. Tania Das Gupta and Dr. C. Emdad Haque as keynote speakers and taking place at SFU Vancouver and UBC. Read more

Join us for the first Himalaya Program event of the 2017-18 academic year! Nepal has been undergoing a political transition since the end of the Maoist conflict in 2006. This talk will discuss whether this means if the transition is coming to an end, and what the contours of the Nepali state are likely to be in the future. Read more

Texts in Punjabi have for much of its history been written in multiple scripts and engaged deeply with myriad textual, aural, and oral communities. The words and letters of literary agents in 17th century Punjab, this lecture argues, actively shaped communities and networks, pointing to the boundaries some wished to enforce, and the boundaries that others transgressed. Read more

The award ceremony recognizes the recipients of the 2017 Pan Tianshou Scholarship. The Pan Tianshou Scholarship is offered to Masters and PhD students who are studying or conducting research in Chinese Studies or research relating to China. It is funded by the the Pan Tianshou Foundation (PTSF) based in China, and the Vancouver Chinese Culture and Arts Foundation (VCCAF). This event is by RSVP only. Read more

This event features keynote talks by Toeda Hirokazu (“Japanese Literature and Two Systems of Press Control: The Intersection of Home Ministry and GHQ/SCAP Censorship During the Occupation Period”) and Tanaka Yukari (“The ‘Dialect Cosplay’ Phenomenon: Detaching Regional Dialects from Geographic Localities”). Read more

A public talk by Dr. Iris Ma, University of Texas at Austin The last two decades of the Qing witnessed a surge of Western concepts and ideas introduced by Chinese intellectuals who searched for solutions to a failing state. Anarchism, which promised to quickly dismantle the old society and culture, became popular. The ideology’s overt condemnation... Read more

For many, the name Bhai Vir Singh is synonymous with Punjabi literary and religious reform. A poet, novelist, exegete, theologian, historian, journalist, and pamphleteer, Vir Singh is often said to have single-handedly ushered “modernity” into Punjabi language and literature, and was a major force in shaping the Sikh and Punjabi politics of the undivided Punjab. Read more

“The world has clearly lost a giant whose impact will live on in the hearts and minds of so many.” —Professor Santa J. Ono, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia Please join associates and guests of the Centre for Chinese Research for a special gathering to commemorate the life of Liu Xiaobo (1955–2017), writer, scholar,... Read more

The UBC Himalaya Program is hosting a dialogue between UBC faculty member Dr. Wade Davis (Department of Anthropology), and H.H. the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa. The event is hosted in partnership with the Karma Kagyu Association of Canada and Thrangu Monastery to welcome H.H. the Karmapa to the University of British Columbia as part of his... Read more

Join us for an information session about new funding opportunities available to UBC students and faculty interested in working in India. Learn about grants and scholarships the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute offers for language training and research in India. Led by: Dr. Prachi Kaul, Director of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute RSVP | Event poster Read more

Greater Central Asia is at the center of a complex and interactive game between Russia, Turkey, and Iran. Each country is in the midst of adjusting its strategy in the region as part of a search for influence and power. In turn, the actions taken by each country has impact on the others and the... Read more

The UBC Himalaya Program invites you to join a roundtable with visiting dignitaries from the IDRC-supported Nepal Forest & Wildfire Management Project. These representatives are from the Nepal Department of Forests, Kathmandu Forestry College and the Nepal Forest Fire Management Chapter. The team includes Sundar Prasad Sharma, Mohan Raj Kafle, Dr. Ambika Prasad Gautam, and Gagan Sharma. They will be joined by... Read more

摘要：地方政府创新是政府治理改革的重要内容，业已成为当代中国政府与政治研究中的重要议题。已有研究揭示了“自主探索”和“设计试验”两种最具代表性的创新机制。十八大以后，一些研究者基于“中国地方政府创新奖”申报数量的减少以及地方政府自主空间的减小，判定中国地方政府创新的动力显著减弱。十八大后的集权化改革，在一定程度上限制了“自主探索”的范围、幅度和可能性。但是，中国地方政府创新出现了不同于“自主探索”与“设计试验”的新形态：“请示授权”，而且这一新形态已获得湖南、山东、山西、浙江、内蒙古五省区的制度确认，可能成为中国地方政府创新的一种新趋势。“请示授权”将纵向政府间的非正式互动纳入正式的政府过程，是实现“顶层设计”与“基层探索”良性互动的一种可能路径，或将重新型构中国的纵向政府间关系。 特邀演讲嘉宾：郁建兴教授 (浙江大学公共管理学院院长) * 本场讲座将用中文进行 停车地址：请google “Fraser River Parkade” 请通过邮件或手机短信确认出席：xiaofei.ying@ubc.ca; 778-893-2095 Event poster Note: This event will also be conducted in English at 12pm. Read more

This talk will analyse the new progress of local government innovation in China since Xi takes over the power. The previous research has mostly focused on two models of local innovations: “exploration” by local governments；”pilots” by central government. In this talk, a new rebalancing model— “proposal-approved”, involving both local government and central government, is introduced.... Read more

Abstract: The Chinese communist welfare state was established with the goal of eradicating income inequality. Paradoxically, it widened the income gap between workers and peasants in the Mao era. To explain this ironic outcome, this talk places the Chinese case in the context of the globalization of welfare policies in the 20th century. The mismatch... Read more

The presentation will discuss the development of China’s currency, the Renminbi (RMB), as an international currency. A rising Chinese state and associated market actors are the primary agents in internationalizing the RMB. Chinese state officials have created the government programs and legal/regulatory frameworks that have enabled corporates to use the RMB for cross-border trade settlement,... Read more

The past two decades have not been the best of times for Hong Kong. What have been the sources of tensions for this former British colony? As Hong Kong is set to enter the Carrie Lam era, what promises does Deng Xiaoping’s formulation of “One Country, Two Systems” still hold for this special administrative region... Read more

Presented by: Professor Atiur Rahman, Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka (formerly Governor of Central Bank of Bangladesh) Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian Nobel Laureate in Literature, a versatile genius and a product of the European renaissance was indeed much larger than his own life. He was deeply touched by the deprivations of the peasantry... Read more

Gwen Robinson will provide an overview of recent developments in Myanmar under the Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy, with reference to the political and economic context, the peace process, the situation in Rakhine state, aid and trade, and diplomatic relations. Light refreshments will be served. About the speaker Gwen Robinson is... Read more

**Please note that this event is cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to seeing you at the next event** Abstract: As Donald J. Trump’s electoral victory graphically shows, walls are a hot topic. While ‘globalization’, with its free flow of capital, goods, ideas and people characterized world politics after the end of the... Read more

Abstract: India embarked on a Telecom Revolution in the 1980’s under Rajiv Gandhi’s National Technology Mission , which was led by Sam Pitroda. Combined with economic reforms, this journey paved the way for several other innovations and transformatory changes in subsequent decades. This talk will present a ringside view of that journey, along with present... Read more

‘Into the Silicon Valley North’: Canada’s Opportunity in Global Creative Industries and How China Contributes to B.C.’s Growing Tech Sector Independent documentary ‘Into the Silicon Valley North’ digs into Vancouver’s burgeoning tech sector and explores how global talents are contributing to this fast-growing ecosystem. Four young Chinese millennials, from international students to tech entrepreneurs, their... Read more

Abstracts: 1. “Growing Pains?: Marriage Migrants in East Asia” (By Naomi Chi) As the number of immigrants rise in Japan and Korea, so do international marriages. In Japan, it is said that about 2% of marriages in 2014 were international marriages, while in Korea that number is about 9%. Yet the Japanese and South Korean... Read more

Against the global trend towards increased use of foreign female care workers, Japan and South Korea stand out as two countries that continue to resist their intake. In this paper, I explain why despite serious shortages of care workers, these two countries have maintained highly restricted immigration policies towards migrant care workers. I argue that... Read more

About the speaker David A. Steinberg is an assistant professor of international political economy. His research focuses on the politics of international money and finance. His book, Demanding Devaluation: Exchange Rate Politics in the Developing World (Cornell University Press, 2015), was awarded the Peter Katzenstein Book Prize and received an Honorable Mention for the American Political Science... Read more

This talk will be followed by a reception honouring Prof. Bose’s services to CISAR. Please RSVP. There will be food and drinks at the reception! For hundreds of years India’s villages have been sites of rich cultural production, especially paintings of varied forms, representing the imaginative, spiritual and historical experience of common people. A particularly... Read more

Abstract: UBC Japan Career Network is proud to present Alumnight 2017! This is the place where you can listen to stories about job hunting (or internship hunting) in Japan, Canada, or at the Boston Career forum from successful 3rd and 4th year UBC students. This will be a valuable occasion to network with UBC graduates to... Read more

Zhemian (Ochre face) was originally an “ethnic description” of the facial makeup practices of the Tibetans, or Tubo, in the Tang History and other Chinese-language historical sources. Across two centuries of Tang-Tibetan interaction, “zhemian” influenced culture in Chang’an and the Central Plains. After comprehensive analysis, these phenomena arouse our interest: The assertion in the Tang... Read more

Abstract: Dr. Park will traces the rise of environmental consciousness and movements in South Korea after 1945. In particular, it locates the origins of environmentalism in rural South Korea with agricultural farming communities and cooperatives, such as Hansalim, leading the way. Forms of environmentalism arose in these communities as they responded to a process of... Read more

About the Speaker Mr. Paul Maddison is High Commissioner of Canada in Australia with concurrent accreditation as High Commissioner to Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. He also holds concurrent accreditation as Ambassador to the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau. He began his current assignment upon arrival in Canberra in August 2015. Mr.... Read more

China has made significant progress toward universal health coverage that meets the reasonable expectations of the population and addresses the perennial patient complaint of “kan bing nan, kan bing gui” (getting healthcare is difficult and expensive). Yet many challenges remain. The recently announced 13th 5-year-plan for deepening health system reform issued by the PRC State... Read more

Abstract: How would cutting-edge information technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Robotics impact on our daily lives, society, and legal systems? What should be done to deal with issues brought by such latest technologies? With using a comparative analysis of laws in Japan, EU, and US, this lecture focuses on... Read more

The Asian Library and Rare Books and Special Collections is delighted to host a symposium, Double Exposure | Japan-Canada: Missionary Photographs of Meiji-Taisho Japan. For further information, please visit: Symposium In conjunction with the Symposium, we have a new exhibit at the Asian Centre and Rare Books and Special Collections March 13-May 31. For more information, please visit: Exhibit RSVP |... Read more

Dr. Young-Oak Kim 金容沃, popularly known as “Master Doh-ol 檮杌先生,” is widely considered as the leading contemporary philosopher in South Korea. Dr. Kim has sold over 3 million copies of his 75 monographs, making him the best-selling book author of all time. His works cover a wide array of topics, including philosophy, history, medicine, religion,... Read more

Those scholars who are concerned with Chinese academic circles will notice that since 2010 China has published many different works about “China.” All of these works deal with the topic of “What is China?”. Why, since 2010, have Chinese academics, especially in history, been specifically concerned about the question of “what is China”? In other... Read more

Abstract This research project investigates how Japanese grassroots women’s organizations are contributing to disaster recovery and reconstruction in Japan. As a global leader in disaster planning and mitigation, Japan’s state of the art earthquake and tsunami preparation guidelines are disseminated around the world as best practices. In spite of Japan’s long history and proficiency in... Read more

Thinking of going to Japan as an exchange student, graduate or research student? Join us for a very good opportunity to learn about the possibility of studying in Japan. You will be able to meet students who actually went to Japan as an exchange student or as a graduate/research student and ask any questions about... Read more

Since the 1990s, there is an expansion of rubber plantation in Luang Namtha province in Laos and in Northern Shan State in Myanmar. Both are driven by increasing Chinese capital, but are arranged in a different way: Laos based more on small-holder production as well as contract farming arrangements, and in Myanmar, by economic concession.... Read more

Throughout the world, hundreds of millions of people, Chinese and foreign, are learning a version of Chinese called Putonghua. Since the turn of the twentieth century a host of linguists and political leaders, from the radical intellectuals of the May Fourth Movement, to leaders such as Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, all fought linguistic wars to... Read more

The collapse of the Chinese equity capital markets from mid-2015 to early 2016 captured the attention of the world, and elicited a blunt response from central organs of the PRC party state. That heavy-handed response included a moratorium on new issues, mandatory infusions of capital from state-controlled securities companies and funds, and direct prohibitions on... Read more

A roundtable discussion with Dr. Lis Kramer As the Jakarta gubernatorial election heads to a run-off in April 2017, the UBC Southeast Asian Network has invited Dr. Elisabeth Kramer, a political scientist at the University of Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, to discuss “the usefulness of scale as a geographical concept” in understanding electoral campaigns in... Read more

“On April 25, 2015, Nepal was hit by a devastating earthquake in which 9,000 people lost their lives. At 7.8 on the Richter scale, the quake caused an avalanche of snow, ice and debris that swept away entire villages. One of them was the village of Langtang in the magnificent Langtang Valley, a popular trekking... Read more

Since the trial of Bo Xilai in 2013, there has been no official discussion in China on the possible differences in political strategy which might exist between Bo Xilai and Xi Jinping. This presentation will analyze Bo Xilai’s Cultural Revolution experience as well as the discussions on various Chinese blogs to test the hypothesis that... Read more

International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on the progress made and the challenges ahead, to call for change, and to celebrate the courage and determination shown by women who have played an extraordinary role in their communities. This event will consider the challenges, shortcomings, and opportunities for effectively implementing the new sustainable development... Read more

About the Speaker: Victor Zatsepine grew up in Samara, Russia, where the Volga River crosses the Trans-Siberian Railway. From 1989 to 1993, he was an exchange student in Beijing, majoring in Modern Chinese, and later working as a researcher for major US media outlets. After finishing his MA at Harvard (1998) and PhD at the... Read more

Spiralling unrest has continued in the Kashmir Valley since the July 2016 killing of the home-grown Hizbul commander Burhan Wani by the security forces. Never before has the Valley seen such unrelenting violence, literally on a daily basis. And never before has the Valley witnessed Kashmiri people from all walks of life and from every... Read more

The Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs at UBC cordially invites you to attend our inaugural Global Policy Project Symposium. A defining element of our MPPGA curriculum, the Global Policy Project (GP2) provides the opportunity for teams of MPPGA students to engage with policy makers and civil society on a real-world policy challenge. At the symposium,... Read more

China scholars have explored shirking by local officials and “effective implementation,” but fewer have examined polices that are implemented with great enthusiasm. The Microfinance for Women Program fits in this last category. Especially in Sichuan, targets for lending were set by the province, exceeded, raised, and then exceeded again. The immediate reason that loan-making took... Read more

Kishida Rio was the only female playwright in angura (underground/avant-garde) movement in 1960-70’s Japan. Kishida Rio began her work in theatre when she joined Terayama Shûji’s “Laboratory of Play” Tenjô Sajiki (The Peanut Gallery) in 1974 and worked as Terayama’s collaborator on plays and films, helping develop the company into one of the major angura... Read more

Radiation is an invisible hazard, largely imperceptible to the human senses. Damage from the fall out from nuclear power plant accidents, such as at Fukushima in March 2011, is also largely imperceptible. Similarly, even in democratic countries the consequences of nuclear accidents are often made invisible by governments that limit public attention to radiation and... Read more

Join this free UBC talk and Q&A with Satya S. Tripathi, Senior Advisor, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Environment and the Chief Executive of the US$1 Billion Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility. Everyone is welcome. Over 100 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement at record speed, and it came into effect on November 4, 2016. Now the big... Read more

Australia and Japan have greatly enhanced their direct bilateral security ties to forge what they now describe as a “special strategic partnership.” This new form of security alignment is not intended to be a traditional alliance pact, but rather represents a novel and versatile mechanism for diplomatic, security, and economic cooperation. Both states seek to... Read more

Dr. Hanscom will explore the possibility of understanding contemporary South Korean cultural production outside of a nationalist or culturalist framework of interpretation. A reading of two recent films provides an opportunity to consider how art can formally convey a content that reflects or stems from its situation and at the same time can exceed the... Read more

This is the closing reception for the exhibition “Mending Cracks” by Raghavendra Rao K.V., as well as the launch of Canada 150 Commemoration project “Trauma, Memory and the Story of Canada,” which explores the intersections of history, memory, and migration, integrating the arts, research, and performance. Sponsors: Centre for India and South Asia Research, Museum of... Read more

UNESCO proclaimed February 21 as the International Mother Language Day (IMLD) in 1999 to celebrate and protect the diverse languages of the world. While IMLD is an effort to honor people’s right to speak their mother tongues, to preserve their culture and identity, and to safeguard the many endangered languages of the world, it is also a tribute... Read more

To stay competitive in the global marketplace, states have been increasingly forced to supplement their domestic workforce with foreign labor. However, the question of labor importation remains highly contentious, producing puzzling cross-national variation in admission schemes for less-skilled workers. How can we explain this policy divergence among similar advanced economies? In this talk, Dr. Kalicki... Read more

In his talk, Ivan Somlai will note some complexities, frustrations, and epiphanies arising from work with donor and host governments as he experienced them in development initiatives in Nepal since 1976. Beginning with his current IDRC-supported “Forest & Wildfire Management Project”, he will also draw on examples –as time permits—from other projects, to illustrate trends, collaboration, competition... Read more

Ian Burney (BA Hons in Political science, McGill University; MA International Relations, University of Toronto) is the Ambassador of Canada to Japan. Abroad, he served as third and second secretary at the embassy in Bangkok from 1989 to 1991 and as consul and senior trade commissioner at the consulate general in Ho Chi Minh City... Read more

About the speaker: Dr. Ryo Sahashi is an associate professor of International Politics and associate dean, Faculty of Law at Kanagawa University, Yokohama, and a research fellow at the Japan Center for International Exchange. He is a specialist in international politics of East Asia. He has several publications on US-China relations, Taiwan, East Asian security order,... Read more

How do historians delineate the temporal boundaries of major historical events, and trace their origins, precedents, and preludes? How are periodization schemes constructed and defined? In this talk, Prof. Wu will reconsider the opening phase of China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and the critical events leading up to it, with the aim of developing an... Read more

The talk will cover updates on Indonesian politics and Indonesia-China relations. About the Speaker: Jona Widhagdo Putri is a lecturer in International Relations at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia as well as a Chinese language interpreter for the 6th and the 7th Indonesian President (2013-now). Her research focus is on... Read more

Bio: Oh Joon is a former Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to the United Nations (UN) from 2013 to 2016. During this time, he also served as the 71st President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as President of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights... Read more

Speaker: Masahiro Nakano (Visiting Professor Aoyama Gakuin University) In Japan, as the consequences of the election of the House of Councilors (参議院) in 2016, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP: 自民党), Komeito (公明党) and some of their followers won two-thirds of the seats in both of the House of Representatives (衆議院) and the House of... Read more

Speaker: Dr. Christina Yi, (Assistant Professor, Department of Asian Studies) With the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894, Japan officially embarked on an enterprise of territorial expansion. Acquisition of Taiwan occurred in 1895, soon followed by the annexation of Korea in 1910. The unconditional surrender of Japan to the Allied Powers in 1945 signaled not... Read more

Speaker: Professor Masahiro Hamashita (Kobe College) It is time that we should distinguish more fully the difference between Japanese culture and Chinese culture. There still exists a misunderstanding that Japanese culture should be regarded as a derivative of Chinese culture under the influence of Confucianism. However, those who are familiar with some characteristics of Japanese... Read more

In a time of controversy, conflict, and urgency regarding forced migration and refugee populations worldwide, the resettlement of Bhutanese Lhotshampa over the past decade stands as a success story. A large proportion of the refugees in the camps in Nepal has relocated to new homes in North America, Europe and Oceania. While the arrival of the... Read more

Of Rice and Roots is an event where you can try a variety of traditional dishes from different Southeast Asian countries and learn more about these amazing countries from the Consulate-Generals themselves! We will have 6 countries participating this year: Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines Presented by: Centre for Southeast Asia Research, in collaboration with ASEAN... Read more

This documentary feature film tells a story about sexual violence against women, yet most of its victims are silenced. One such sad episode is that of the “comfort women,” or more accurately, the estimated 200,000 women who were recruited to sexually serve the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. As part of this immense... Read more

Intersecting Influences of Gender, Migration, Racialization and Access to Health Care in Canada This presentation will explore, using social determinants of health and intersectionality approach, how gendered experience of migration and settlement in Canada shape the health and wellbeing of South Asian immigrant women. Narratives and experiences of a number of South Asian immigrant women... Read more

Cock-a-doodle doo! Chinese comedians should have a lot to crow about during the Year of the Rooster. But should we expect Chinese humor in 2017 to be defined by wit, satire, parody, farce, or just cockiness? Come hear a practicing comedian swap perspectives with a cultural historian on the past, present, and future of Chinese... Read more

From October to November 2015, Professor Christina Laffin and four graduate students of Japanese literature travelled to the remote islands of Okinoshima in Shimane Prefecture to present an exhibit, workshop, and series of lectures aimed at making local cultural heritage more accessible. Over the course of a week they collaborated with local government staff, community... Read more

This event is an interdisciplinary roundtable discussion featuring the research of several UBC graduate students. With participants from Humanities, Social Sciences, and Medicine, the roundtable will initiate conversations across disciplines and showcase exciting projects focusing on the Himalayan region from across the university. Stay tuned for further details! Discussion begins at 5pm. This event is sponsored by the Himalaya Program and... Read more

UBC’s Centre for Japanese Research (CJR) is pleased to announce its Annual Open House Reception on Friday, Jan 20 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. The Open House Reception will also serve as a belated New Year’s celebration. We welcome anyone interested in Japan to join us for light refreshments and traditional Japanese dishes while learning about the diverse events... Read more

Abstract: From the 1950s, Japanese are said to have embraced the so-called “bright life”—that is, a middle class social ideal inspired by the bright lives led by their American occupiers. As the story’s been told up to now, the “bright life” was enshrined in the American magazines, movies, and TV programs that flooded Japan during... Read more

The Writing Center as a Globalized Pedagogy: A Case Study of an Internationalized University in Japan Due to increased pressures of internationalization, universities around the world are compelled to implement language education models and frameworks with global recognition (Byram & Parmenter, 2012; Doiz, Lasagabaster, & Sierra, 2012; Imoto & Horiguchi, 2015). Given this trend, I... Read more

Chinese shares rose sharply on a 2012 announcement initiating an anticorruption campaign. More productive non-SOEs in high Q industries and greater external finance dependence in more liberalized provinces gained more. Non-SOEs in less liberalized provinces gained less, especially if their past entertainment and travel costs (ETC) were higher. These results suggest market development and anticorruption... Read more

**THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE** Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on peace and development with Waheed Waheedulla, Peacebuilding & Conflict Management Advisor to the United Nations. The world today is undergoing very troubled times. People, from the West to East and from North to South, are all engaged in an ineffective... Read more

We shine the spotlight on Sri Lanka for this year’s cultural showcase. Sri Lanka’s diversity and culture will be on full display as we showcase the pearl of South Asia through an evening filled with music, art, and dance. The aim of this event is to engage the UBC and greater Vancouver community with Sri... Read more

Contemporary Tibetan art has recently begun to receive great attention from museums and collectors worldwide. This new development marks an exciting movement within the rich, established lineage of Tibetan art history. Tenzing Rigdol is one of the leading avant-garde artists, producing complex and thought-provoking artwork that are the products of collective influences and interpretations of... Read more

Contemporary Tibetan art has recently begun to receive great attention from museums and collectors worldwide. This new development marks an exciting movement within the rich, established lineage of Tibetan art history. Tenzing Rigdol is one of the leading avant-garde artists, producing complex and thought-provoking artwork that are the products of collective influences and interpretations of... Read more

About the Speakers Professor Qin Hui 秦晖 is Professor of History at Tsinghua University, Beijing. His research has covered several fields in economic history, social history and the history of ideas. He has published more than twenty books including Fields and Garden Poetry and Rhapsodies (田园诗与狂想曲), Ten Treatises on Tradition (传统十论), Out of the Imperial... Read more

Abstract What forces, or narratives, shape Chinese foreign policy? We can see a spectrum of such policy narratives which I call the seven Chinas. They can be arranged in chronological order, starting with the ancient idea of China as the self-sufficient civilisation, and culminating, for now, with that of China as herald of the high frontier, safeguarding a... Read more

Length: 128 mins Language: Cantonese with English Subtitles About the Film The turmoil that has overtaken Hong Kong since its return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 has spawned a new generation of young, passionately committed activist filmmakers; they want to tell Hong Kong’s story with Hong Kong voices. And the best indie documentary to have emerged... Read more

LOCATION: Franklin Lew Forum, Peter A. Allard School of Law University of British Columbia, 1822 E Mall, Vancouver ABOUT THE SEMINAR: This event is jointly organized by the Ministry of State for Emergency Preparedness, the Consulate General of Japan, and UBC with presentations by a team of top-notch disaster reduction experts from Japan. The purpose of this... Read more

A joint event between CSEAR and Master of Food and Resource Economics (MFRE). Using a unique dataset, we study the unlicensed money lending market in Singapore. In this market, borrowers search for loan sharks to borrow from and loan sharks decide how much money to extort from the borrowers. In equilibrium, we observe dispersion over the degree of... Read more

Abstract: Lee Erisu, often referred to as the “Diva of the Century,” was the one of the first popular singers and Shinpa actresses in Korea under Japanese rule with the release of Ruins of Hwangsŏng in 1927. She recorded popular songs in both Imperial Japan and Korea which confirmed her status as a cultural icon... Read more

During the long history of encounters between the Han and non-Han people, the Han writers produced many texts that represent the non-Han as the other. These texts are in the genres of local gazetteers, travelogues and miscellaneous notes, and they narrate about the geographical, institutional and social traits of the non-Han regions and people. Among... Read more

Dr. Anand Teltumbde, a leading civil rights activist, public intellectual, authour and professor of business analytics argues that caste and class is a duality which has killed a potential revolution in India, dragging India into a socio-political morass. While castes have been the lifeworld of people, as a system their attributes have undergone change due... Read more

日本の企業に就職を希望する留学生が 知っておくべき「就活・ニッポンの常識」 Note: This event will be held in Japanese Many Japanese companies are looking into hiring students who graduated from a university outside of Japan. What is the most attractive thing about students who experienced international education? This talk will focus on company perspectives and will answer questions from students who wish to work... Read more

Abstract: Visitors to Japan often express their appreciation of Omotenashi (Japan’s quality service), and regularly comment on their pleasant experiences. Recently, Ometenashi has become a widely-used term by the Japanese government, mass-media and hospitality business who wish to attract more inbound tourists, one of the major strategies of Abenomics. It is also a term associated... Read more

Type: Film Screening and Discussion Speaker: Yang Chao (director of the Silver Bear award winner at this year’s Berlin Film Festival and the latest work, CROSSCURRENT長江圖) “The core of the film is surreal, almost supernatural—a man and a woman from a different time and space travel against each other, progressively and retrogressively at the same.” –... Read more

Often translated as ‘the science of healing’ (sowa rigpa), Tibetan medicine is at once a diverse system of healing with ancient roots extending out from the Tibetan Plateau and a modern, globalizing ‘alternative’ therapeutics. The contemporary practice of Tibetan medicine is enmeshed within multiple, and sometimes conflicting, agendas: from the need to conserve medicinal plants... Read more

The type of activism that small immigrant rights’ (pro-foreigner) groups engage is what I have called “associative activism.” Associative activism arises when like-minded activists address specific problems and eventually seek to transform inflexible and relatively unresponsive political institutions through coordinated activities. These are aimed at resolving some particular problem that, while not directly in conflict... Read more

The research examines the young female specific subculture called Decora in Harajuku by applying critical ethnographic approach in order to retheorize the notion of resistance. Subcultures generated from the streets has been merged with and disseminated by main-stream culture and provoked a number of criticism towards their political stance. Other theories such as (neo) tribe... Read more

In the early and mid Doi Moi years, with the country’s post-transition starting point favored labor intensive activities, Viet Nam performed well on economic growth. Economic expansion was inclusive, with benefits widely distributed and opportunities shared having brought significant social transformation, evident in the shrinking population shares of the poor and near poor, and rapid... Read more

Abstract: The global diffusion of liberalizing reforms is theorized to reduce the state’s involvement in the economy, yet across the world a remarkable surge of state intervention in the corporate sector has occurred. I propose that this disconnect between theory and empirics can be resolved, in part, by considering an overlooked political phenomenon – the... Read more

Abstract: The global diffusion of liberalizing reforms is theorized to reduce the state’s involvement in the economy, yet across the world a remarkable surge of state intervention in the corporate sector has occurred. I propose that this disconnect between theory and empirics can be resolved, in part, by considering an overlooked political phenomenon – the... Read more

Join us for a rare and exciting opportunity to engage with Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki and a panel of young experts from Japan in a stimulating dialogue on Japan-related issues. Led by Ambassador Fujisaki, the panel of four specialists working in diverse fields will discuss some of the major concerns facing Japan and the world including... Read more

The grim list of those who have fallen victim to attacks by Islamist militants in Bangladesh is growing ever diverse. Secular bloggers, academics, gay rights activists, and members of religious minorities including Shia, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Hindus have all been killed, many of them hacked to death. That a university professor... Read more

About the Seminar: K-pop and K-drama have transformed contemporary beauty aesthetics among young Thai people. K-pop cover dance, or the reproduction of choreographed movements from Korean music videos, is a definitive social activity among Asian sissies (young feminine gay men). Thai sissies are among the most passionate and proficient practitioners of K-pop cover dance, and... Read more

This presentation deals with the essence of nationhood in the post-colonial Indian drama following an interdisciplinary approach. The presentation analyses the regional Indian theatre of this period from the ‘ethno-symbolic’ perspective, and underlines the element of tradition and experimentation in this genre. VIEW POSTER Read more

In this talk, I will consider the emergence of the barbarian-hero persona in Ming-Qing vernacular novels in connection to the development of Chinese cultural identity. As an emerging and popular character archetype found across a number of vernacular novels during the late Imperial period, the barbarian-hero is defined by two qualities: his barbarian-like physical (and... Read more

At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party in the fall of 2017, China will likely experience its largest leadership turnover since the height of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s. Xi Jinping is one of the most intriguing and complex world leaders of our time, and China’s political trajectory is crucial to... Read more

A Conversation with Dr. Philip Calvert, Former Canadian Ambassador to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Dr. Philip Calvert Philip Calvert (BA Honours, the University of BritishColumbia, 1980; MA, York University, 1982; PHD, University of Washington, 1991) joined the Department of External Affairs in 1982 (now the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada). His first... Read more

The Japan Studies Association of Canada (JSAC) Annual Conference will be hosted by the Centre of Japanese Research (CJR), housed within the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia. It will bring together Japan Studies researchers from diverse disciplinary fields from throughout Canada and the world. This will include scholars in geography, fine arts, anthropology... Read more

**Please note that the date, time and location have been changed for this event.** Before markets opened in 1978, China was an impoverished planned economy governed by a Maoist bureaucracy. In just three decades it evolved into the world’s second-largest economy and is today guided by highly entrepreneurial bureaucrats. What explains this amazing metamorphosis? Was... Read more

John Friedmann is an honorary professor at the School of Community and Regional Planning in the Faculty of Applied Sciences and continues as an emeritus professor of UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. He was the Founding chair of the Department of Planning at UCLA in 1969. A much published author in development planning, planning... Read more

This discussion will explore how to move forward agendas for “transformative change” based on empirical work and social processes of engagement to assure a solid basis for change based in part on the work of Colin Bradford and MPPGA student Chad Rickaby. Bio: Colin Bradford is an international economist at the Brookings Institution who is... Read more

UBC students, join us to explore the G20 as a global governance mechanism and the relationship of domestic politics to international leadership. Ultimately, global leadership is political. When domestic politics turn inward and when people feel left out of the benefits of the economic system, global leadership becomes all the more necessary, but all the... Read more

UBC students, join us for a discussion on international policy with Roland Paris, the Prime Minister’s former advisor on global affairs and defence. Building on the early foreign policy successes of the Trudeau government, how should Canada define and pursue its long-term goals in international affairs? In an era of dramatic global change and rising challenges,... Read more

Professor Wixted has written several articles on kanshi (Sino-Japanese poetry). His talk, “Sex and the Stereoscopic City in Kanshi: Mori Ōgai and Niigata,” will treat selections from two series that Mori Ōgai (1862-1922) wrote when on expedition in northern Japan as a twenty-year-old army officer. In addition to their intrinsic interest, the poems throw much... Read more

Seminar abstract: The Greater Central Asia region refers to Xinjing (China), Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. This region is important for energy security, trade, and the combating of terrorism and fundamentalism, which involve key countries such as USA, China, India, and Russia. This seminar seeks to analyze the geo-strategic game in the region,... Read more

In Virtual History (1998), Niall Ferguson and his collaborators presented “alternative histories” to challenge deterministic ways of viewing history. They asked why history had to be always factual, deliberately implemented the idea of taking a “chaotic approach” to history, and wrote counterfactual scenarios. Certainly, writing subjunctive narratives was difficult to take for many historians, but... Read more

Find out why Thailand, Land of Smiles, is one of the world’s most popular destinations through displays of books and handicrafts with opportunity to win prizes and taste delicious Thai food. Program Schedule 11.00 am: Registration 11.15 am: Opening Ceremony with ribbon cutting by President Santa Ono 11.30 am: “Getting to know Thailand” Video Presentation... Read more

Until now, work on Japan’s colonial legacy of industrialization in Korea has focused on whether or not Japan laid the foundation to South Korea’s post-war economic growth. Much of this work, however, has largely been defined by a nation-based understanding of economic development (e.g. the “miracle on the Han” narrative), which either asserts discontinuity or... Read more

Dr. Chaterjee will present a paper that examines the impact of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09 on Indian manufacturing firms, using data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) Prowess database. While the crisis did not have its roots in India, the economy and firms were affected mainly due to trade linkages with... Read more

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, to which both Canada and Japan are signatories, was supposed to be a new-generation trade agreement to break the deadlock of the multilateral trade negotiations in Geneva. However, with the major candidates in the U.S. Presidential Election showing no support for the agreement, the future of the TPP appears to... Read more

Nepal’s resources, natural as well as human, have good creative potential, but why is this potential not unleashed? In spite of some positive developments in political awareness, why is the leadership everybody wished for lacking? New ideas have been floated and some changes are brought, but instead of a breakthrough these have dismantled policy structures... Read more

Thailand’s ties as an intimate US ally have declined in recent years and the US-Thai relationship is under pressure as China’s regional influence grows. How and why has this happened? Does it matter for the US rebalance in Asia? As the only US treaty ally in mainland Southeast Asia, Thailand has been the recipient of... Read more

A special invitation to join a discussion with Professor the Honourable Gareth Evans, currently the Chancellor of the Australian National University. A member of the Australian parliament for two decades and a Cabinet minister in both the Hawke and Keating governments, he served as foreign minister from 1988-96. A dynamic internationalist, he is well known... Read more

Dr. Speziale is an Associate Professor (maître de conférences) in Persian Studies at the Department of Arabic, Hebrew, Indian and Iranian Studies in University Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3. He is also the principal investigator of the Perso-Indica project, whose aim is to produce a comprehensive survey of Persian works on Indian cultures, written between the 13th and the 19th centuries... Read more

This Presentation will bring up the study of Persian narratives of Indian origin, translated directly from Sanskrit or other South Asian vernaculars from the 14th century onwards; the stories which, retold and modified according to the recipient culture, helped to form a forthcoming exchange of knowledge between Muslims and Hindus, during the realm of Sultanates... Read more

This lecture examines the translation of foreign materials into post-Abbasid Muslim medical culture by looking at the production of Persian works dealing with Indian medicine. From the 14th century onwards, the composition of Persian texts on Ayurveda emerged in South Asia as a new genre of writing, which was actually a composite genre including various... Read more

The standard modernization-as-westernization narrative of Buddhism closely parallels the twentieth-century narrative of secularism as a global, linear, and uniform process of religion waning and becoming less relevant to public life. The processes of disenchantment, social differentiation, displacement, and the growing dominance of instrumental reasoning and scientific thinking, according to this narrative, would gradually come to occupy the spaces once inhabited... Read more

Scholars have long portrayed the construction of twentieth-century Buddhism in Japan as a result of changes forced upon or willfully adopted by Japanese Buddhists as a result of ever more frequent contacts with the “West,” that is, the United States and Europe. The intellectual, scholarly, and religious exchanges that reshaped the Japanese Buddhist world from the late-nineteenth and first... Read more

The 6th Annual Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation Conference (Hosted by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society, Jessica L. Main, director) at UBC, and co-sponsored by The Modernization of Buddhism in Global Perspective Project (SSHRC Insight Grant, John S. Harding, Victor Sogen Hori, Alexander Soucy, co-investigators) This conference has been called to... Read more

About the Book: The book views modern Chinese Political history from the perspective of Han officials who goverened Xinjiang. ‘This region, inhabited by Uighurs, Kazaks, Hui, Mongols, Kirgiz, and Tajiks, is also the last significant “colony” of the former Qing empire to remain under continuous Chinese rule throughout the twentieth century. Jacob’s narrative tracks Xingjiang... Read more

Non-Written Materials for New Possibilities of Japanese / Asian Studies. This event will be conducted in Japanese. Program Schedule. Free to attend but registration is required by July 15th. Contact: ihatov.song@gmail.com (Minoru Takano). Read more

When China expanded dramatically into the South China Sea in 2015, there was little reaction. Now, approaching one year later, scholars and nations are beginning to react and understand how historic this move was. The geographical heart of ASEAN has been cut out. China’s “dual strategy” offers attractive infrastructure projects and increased trade, but forbids... Read more

**UPDATE: Due to the amount of interest expressed in this event, the location has now moved to Room 120 at the Institute of Asian Research (C.K. Choi Building)** About Vijay Mahajan Vijay Mahajan turned 18 in 1972, the year India celebrated its 25th Independence Day. Troubled by India’s poverty, and inspired by a number of pioneers from... Read more

Facing two decades of deflation and a declining and aging population, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has implemented “Abenomics”, comprised of three arrows: aggressive monetary policy, expansionary fiscal policy and an economic growth strategy. The first and second arrows are matters of political will and already implemented. The third (economic growth) arrow should eventually come from... Read more

Please note that this is a ticketed event. Abstract: In the 21st century, as in past centuries ever since the enlightened Buddha agreed to teach, what is today known as Tibetan Buddhism challenges those choosing this path to examine how we can engage our minds and bodies, so that our lives become meaningful and purposeful.... Read more

Renowned actor Sayuri Yoshinaga and composer / pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto present a reading and musical performance of poems by survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. This unique event, taking place on May 3rd at 3:00 PM on campus, will be followed by a reception at the Liu Institute for Global... Read more

Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta — Academic Visitor Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta (President, Center for Policy Research, New Delhi) will be an Academic visitor at CISAR and IAR from April 25 to May 4. During his visit, he will give two public talks — on April 25 and May 2. Both talks will be from 4... Read more

Sponsor: Centre for India and South Asia Research, Himalaya Program, Faculty of Arts Speaker Fund By: Professor Mira Mishra (Department of Women’s Studies, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal) This presentation seeks to explore changes in the lives of women in Nepal, including women’s self image, gender role and the relations between women and men during the... Read more

Sponsor: Centre for India and South Asia Research, Himalaya Program, Faculty of Arts Speaker Fund By: Professor Chaitanya Mishra (Department of Sociology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal) What are the causes and correlates of democracy? The presentation will begin by reviewing key theories of democracy, corresponding to the three waves of democratization in world history. It... Read more

Abstract Recent developments in China invite interest and inquiry among both specialist and generalist observers. The 13th Five Year Plan offers a blueprint for further economic reform, even while questions about the success of reform efforts to date abound. The anti-corruption campaign and other political reform efforts associated with Xi Jinping have seen significant achievements... Read more

By: Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta (President, Center for Policy Research, New Delhi) Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta (President, Center for Policy Research, New Delhi) will be an Academic visitor at CISAR and IAR from April 25 to May 4. During his visit, he will give two public talks — on April 25 and May 2. Both... Read more

Abstract: When one parent returns back to Japan with his/her child after divorce without consent of the other parent, this conduct could be viewed as child abduction. Until recently, however, there was no way to force the child to return back to his/her original place of residence once the child entered Japan. Now with the... Read more

Sponsor: The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society ‘Madness’ is a cultural construct with diverse valences depending on time and place. In this lecture Professor Unno examines definitions of ‘madness’ in Asian and Western contexts, and then relates the terms of Buddhist compassion to these diverse contexts, both historical and contemporary.... Read more

By: Richard Koss (Director, IMF), Shaolong Li (President, Modern International Holding and Green Mountain Jade), Douglas Todd (Journalist, Vancouver Sun), Tsur Somerville (UBC), Christopher Rea (UBC) This panel discussion will focus on the following issues: What are the most important factors driving current trends in global real estate investment? How are capital flows and human... Read more

The UBC Southeast Asia Graduate Student Network would like to invite you to its inaugural Graduate Student Conference for Southeast Asia Research at the University of British Columbia. Held in collaboration with the UBC Center for Southeast Asian Research in the UBC Institute of Asian Research, the conference will be the first of its kind... Read more

About the Event When Liu Cixin’s novel The Three-Body Problem won the Hugo Award for Best Sci-Fi Novel in 2015, global readers showed a sweeping interest in its Chineseness: how did a Chinese author master a genre so underdeveloped in his home country? Liu Cixin seems to have connected with a genuinely enthusiastic global readership,... Read more

Abstract During China’s Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), the capital city of Chang’an (present-day Xi’an) was a megalopolis, career launch pad, and most importantly, cultural paradigm. As such, it captured the imaginations of Tang writers, shaped their future aspirations, and left significant traces in the literature of this period. This talk takes up some of the... Read more

Miyagi Satoshi has directed several productions of Euripides’ tragedy “Medea”, using a number of conventions found in traditional Japanese theatre, in particular the use of a narrator speaking for a moving actor. Miyagi thinks that Meiji period Japan in which his play is set and Athens of the 5th century BCE were similar in a... Read more

The UBC Department of Political Science’s Distinguished Speaker Series and the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the UBC Institute for Asian Research present a talk by Prof. Tana Johnson Duke University “A Revolution in Global North-South Politics? Evidence from Trade-Environment Negotiations” Friday, April 8 12:15 – 1:45pm C.K. Choi Building (Room #120) Lunch available at... Read more

Abstract The rise of China in the recent decades has generated tremendous amount of strategic anxiety among myriads of concerned parties. In the case of the United States, concerned with losing its primacy in the East Asian region to China, has undertaken a series of actions aiming at strengthening its existing security alliances while building... Read more

Why did Japan undertake a war from 1937 to 1945 that it had no chance of winning? Moreover, why did it undertake the war when prominent political leaders and journalists, most notably seven time finance minister Takahashi Korekiyo and economic journalist Ishibashi Tanzan, had been publicly stating for over a quarter of a century that... Read more

By: John Roosa, Ayu Ratih, Earl Drake It has been 50 years since the traumatic and large-scale mass killings of alleged communists in Indonesia. What do we know about these events now? How does the world see them, and how are they seen in Indonesia? These and other questions will be discussed by three leading voices... Read more

About the Speaker: Chan Koonchung is a sinophone writer living in Beijing. He is the Writer of the Year at the 2013 Hong Kong Book Fair. His 2009 novel “The Fat Years” has been translated into 13 languages. His 2013 novel “The Unbearable Dreamworld of Champa the Driver” is available in English and Dutch. His 2015 novel, “The... Read more

Abstract The article aims to explain the evolutionary patterns of international discourses on North Korean human rights and the roles of ‘defector-activists’ played in the process. It analyses how individuals (North Koreans) build their professional networks in the new political environment (in South Korea) and connect with other international state- and non-state actors to constitute... Read more

About the Speaker Carlos Scartascini is Principal Economist at the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank. His areas of expertise include Political Economy and Public Finance. His current research focuses on uncovering the determinants of tax compliance in Latin America (through the use of natural and field experiments), explaining the political economy of tax... Read more

Abstract: Do citizens react to positive inducements? Are the effects long lasting? Are prizes an appropriate incentive for rewarding good behavior? What types of rewards help to crowd in moral incentives? These questions are common in the behavioral economics literature but have been hardly looked at in the empirical tax compliance literature. In this paper,... Read more

By: Dr. Julian Dierkes (UBC) You are invited to learn about the “Integrated Management and Governance in Extractives (IMAGinE) Mongolia” project from the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI). Project lead, Dr. Julian Dierkes (Institute of Asian Research, UBC), will introduce the planned activities and invite collaboration from graduate students and colleagues who are... Read more

About the Event The great poet, diplomat, and reformer Huang Zunxian (1848-1905) is one of the most widely studied figures of nineteenth-century China, but so far little has been written about his activities in the United States during his period of service as the Chinese Consul-General in San Francisco (1882-1885). This talk will make use... Read more

About the Event Recently in Japan several amendments have been adopted by the legislature to strengthen the position of copyright owners who demand stronger protection in the digitized, Internet era. The “copy” right, however, has been transformed from the regulation of competition to the restriction on personal freedom, due to technological and environmental changes brought... Read more

Improving Global Governance and Addressing Systemic Risk: How Can the G20 Take a Proactive Role in 2016? From March 31 – April 1, 2016, the Institute of Asian Research, along with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Zhejiang University, co-led Vision 20: International Summit on Global Governance’s New Frontiers in Hangzhou, China. The event... Read more

Abstract: Five years after the 2010 flash flood, Ladakh has recovered quickly in terms of infrastructures. New buildings have been erected in the same place, communication lines and transportation restored. It almost looks like as if nothing ever happened, but today the slightest sound of thunder and lightning and the unusual amount of rain revives... Read more

“I don’t like this word, creation. It has such religious implications.” The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei once declared, and he meant it. This talk investigates how Ai employs, borrows and “steals” the ideas, prototypes and expertise of others in the making of his artworks, which range from massive and laborious to instant and cheaply recyclable... Read more

A power shift is currently transforming the regional order of East Asia. As history shows us, this is not the first time that the world has undergone a hegemonic transition. But what can the past tell us about what the future beholds and what does Japan need to do in order to respond to this... Read more

About the Event From the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, changes in mass media, transportation, and communication technologies provided unprecedented opportunities for entrepreneurially minded men and women in Asia. Come hear cultural historians Christopher Rea and Nicolai Volland discuss the rise of modern Chinese “cultural entrepreneurs,” business people who risked financial well-being and... Read more

UBC Manga Symposium Information and Schedule Charge: The event is free for all UBC and other local students with ID, plus all preregistered guests. Non-student, non-preregistered guests will be charge $20 at the door. Please preregister by sending an email message to: ubcqueertransfigs2016@gmail.com Description: Japanese manga and anime are popular world-wide, and one frequently cited... Read more

Abstract: There are various names that describe international agreements. What are they and how are they negotiated? Each country has its own practice and style in negotiating international agreements. How treaties are negotiated in Japan will be the focus in the first half followed by an explanation of how English texts are translated into Japanese... Read more

Abstract In the introduction of Chinese philosophy and culture into the Western academy, we have tended to theorize and conceptualize this antique tradition by appeal to familiar Western categories. Confucian role ethics is an attempt to articulate a sui generis moral philosophy that allows this tradition to have its own voice. I will use the... Read more

By: Dr. Timothy Cheek (UBC), Dr. Josephine Chiu-Duke (UBC), Dr. Timothy Brook (UBC), Dr. Jeremy Brown (SFU), Dr. Christopher Rea (Chair) Mapping Modern Chinese Intellectual Life: A Roundtable Conversation with Tim Cheek Book launch of The Intellectual in Modern Chinese History About the Event This narrative history of Chinese intellectuals and public life provides a guide... Read more

Sponsor: The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society Mindfulness means “Paying attention in a particular way: On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn). The field of mindfulness-based interventions for adolescents is currently exploding. Emerging mindfulness-based interventions for youth are showing significant promise in helping adolescents to cope... Read more

About: “Even though the archive and the repertoire exist in a constant state of interaction, the tendency has been to banish the repertoire to the past.” – Diana Taylor As the “king of beasts,” the white tiger is widely known across South China as a ferocious spirit to be ritually worshipped for its apotropaic powers... Read more

When two Canadian coaches volunteer to help kick-start youth hockey in Mongolia, they discover that even on the world’s most frigid outdoor rinks where obstacles to playing are many, the love of hockey reigns supreme. Rinks of Hope: Project Mongolia chronicles the five day road trip of brothers Nate and Boe Leslie as they coach... Read more

Abstract: This talk examines the development of the ‘way of the samurai,’ or bushidō, which is popularly viewed as a defining element of the Japanese national character and even the ‘soul of Japan.’ Rather than a continuation of ancient traditions, however, bushidō developed from a search for identity during Japan’s modernization in the late nineteenth... Read more

By: Mr. Aadil Brar, Anthropology Aadil Brar is an Anthropology student who spent 3 months in Sikkim (India), conducting ethnographic research funded by MITACS Globalinks Research Award. This project explored the history of Buddhist thangka art in Sikkim from a visual anthropological perspective, but the broader aim was to visualize the Sikimese identity, cultural history, and... Read more

Whether you are looking for a year abroad as an undergrad, or to further your education as a graduate, Japan is a great place to study. What’s your field? From arts to sciences, we’ve got it covered. Don’t know much Japanese? Some universities offer preparatory Japanese language and culture courses, while others offer programs in... Read more

By: Atiya Singh (PhD Candidate, University of Chicago) According to popular perceptions, Pakistan came into being as a result of a specific vision of the Muslim League shaped in the political milieu of the 1940s. Yet this perspective ignores the role played by the Communist-Left in India not only in articulating the idea of Pakistan,... Read more

By: Dr. Philip Seaton (Hokkaido University) In recent years, the phenomenon of people traveling to further an interest in works of popular culture has gained much attention from the tourism industry and researchers alike. Lord of the Rings locations in New Zealand, Disneyland theme parks, Star Trek Conventions and the Sherlock Holmes museum in London... Read more

The Tale of Genji, Dream of the Red Chamber, The Tales of Ise, The Three Kingdoms – these and other masterworks are required reading for students of Japanese and Chinese literature. But how did these works come to be regarded as “classics”? What makes them significant works of literature? And how can an instructor best... Read more

Interaction and Collaboration as a Source of Community Recovery and Empowerment: Insights from Minamata and Kizawa (Chuetsu) for Post-disaster Sustainable Community Development The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on 11 March 2011 and shocked both Japan and the world with its scale and seriousness of the adverse impacts on human communities and living environment. It... Read more

Dr. Elizabeth Rohlman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Calgary. Dr. Rohlman’s research considers the role of narrative literature in articulating and constructing religious identity in pre-modern South Asia. For this seminar, Dr. Rohlm an focuses on Sarasvati and her role in Hindu lore. It has been argued... Read more

Join a discussion with French Ambassador HE Mr. Chapuis on the COP21 Paris agreement, with a focus on the France-China relationship. Students, faculty, staff, and community members are warmly invited to attend. Bio: Mr. Nicolas Chapuis is the Ambassador of France to Canada. He has held successive posts in Peking, Boston, Singapore, Shanghai (as Consul... Read more

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was broadly agreed in Atlanta in October 2015 and signed by the 12 members in February 2016, which is good for Abenomics. I first review Japan’s trade and investment activities primarily in the Asian region. I show that Asia is the most profitable region for Japanese multinational corporations. Next I discuss... Read more

About the Speaker Stephen Saideman holds the Paterson Chair in International Affairs at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He has written four books: The Ties That Divide: Ethnic Politics, Foreign Policy and International Conflict; For Kin or Country: Xenophobia, Nationalism and War (with R. William Ayres); NATO in Afghanistan: Fighting Together, Fighting... Read more

Due to progressing globalization in education and demographic change, the education systems of numerous countries have undergone rapid changes over the last two decades. In the case of Japan, two main developments affect education today: (1) steadily decreasing student populations; and (2) the reorientation of education towards relaxation (yutori) and internationalization (kokusaika). Both these trends... Read more

Many cities are undertaking initiatives to improve environmental performance, creating ‘Smart Cities’ by introducing innovative technologies and plans to promote efficient energy use, recycling and environmentally-friendly traffic management. Yokohama and Kitakyushu are examples of cities working to become smarter. They are linking their environmental policies with those relating to economic revitalization, urban planning, health, and welfare,... Read more

Many cities are undertaking initiatives to improve environmental performance, creating ‘Smart Cities’ by introducing innovative technologies and plans to promote efficient energy use, recycling and environmentally-friendly traffic management. Yokohama and Kitakyushu are examples of cities working to become smarter. They are linking their environmental policies with those relating to economic revitalization, urban planning, health, and welfare,... Read more

About: The Consulate General of Japan and the Centre for Japanese Research are pleased to present a special Japanese tea ceremony presentation on Monday, February 29th, 2016, at 3:30 pm and also at 4:30 pm at the Tea Gallery, UBC Asian Centre. The presentation features Japanese tea ceremony lecture and demonstration, as well as Matcha... Read more

About the Event Although comics and cartoons (known in Mandarin as manhua) have existed as form of popular entertainment in Taiwan for over a century, in comparison to Japanese manga, they are almost completely unknown to the Anglophone world. Recently, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China has been working to rectify this... Read more

By: Dr. Clark Sorensen (University of Washington) This paper is a first run for a final chapter to a manuscript I am writing called “Encounters with Korean Folk Religion”. The manuscript weaves together a number of stories in a memoir-like narrative. These stories are: (1) the story of an anthropologist’s encounters with Korean folk religious... Read more

This presentation will undertake a high-level comparative analysis of the cultural and legal issues surrounding women’s access to urban public space in South versus Southeast Asia. Specifically, reference will be made to the cases of India, Thailand, and the Philippines, which bring diverse legal traditions and cultural issues to the fore. Our speaker, Dr. Gisèle Yasmeen, is the... Read more

By: Aaron Skabelund (Brigham Young University) Abstract: This presentation uses Spivak’s famous query to explore human-animal relations in three ways. First, from an epistemological perspective, it considers why researchers in the social sciences and the humanities have directed their attention almost entirely to human affairs, relegating the study of the non-human world to the natural sciences.... Read more

By: Ben Whaley (Ph.D. student, Asian Studies) Abstract: This talk asks the question of whether a video game might help us better understand the trauma of another through an analysis of the PlayStation 2 game Zettaizetsumei Toshi (2002, Disaster Report, 2003). In the game, players must use limited resources to escape from an earthquake- and... Read more

By: Dr. Yong Wang (Peking University, UBC) Event Abstract: Since 2013, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has attracted much attention, but has also caused different explanations. This presentation will try to answer key questions about the Initiative such as: How do we define the nature of the BRI? What factors drove the formulation of... Read more

By: Professor David Park The spread of Buddhism from India throughout Asia has left a legacy of truly great art. This sumptuous new film by award-winning filmmakers Mark Stewart Productions tells the story of that fragile inheritance through the treasures of Bhutan and Ladakh in the Himalayas and the Dunhuang Grottoes on the... Read more

Many Canadian missions abroad maintain a presence on social media. Likewise, many foreign missions in Ottawa are represented as well. Yet, in a recent survey of Global Affairs’ digital diplomacy, Julian Dierkes and students in his Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs course found that Global Affairs’ communications seem to be aimed almost entirely... Read more

IMAGinE Mongolia Outreach You are invited to learn about the “Integrated Management and Governance in Extractives (IMAGinE) Mongolia” project from the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI). Project lead, Dr. Julian Dierkes (Institute of Asian Research, UBC), will introduce the planned activities and invite collaboration from graduate students and colleagues who are focused on... Read more

By: Professor Hyung-Gu Lynn Moomin has been popular in Japan since 1969 when an animated series based on Tove Janssen’s books hit the airwaves. This talk will present a project in its early stages using the history and the popularity of Moomin in Japan to question notions of soft power, globalization, glocalization, and contraflow. Read more

Abstract: Top managers in large Japanese firms are considered to focus on the interests of stakeholders rather than on those of shareholders. We examine employment reduction and dividend cut behaviour and find a significant shift in firm behaviour. Since 2000, firms have been more likely to reduce employees and less likely to reduce dividends. We also... Read more

About the Event The author investigated all manuscripts concerning parasols, mainly focusing on “Liturgies for Installing Parasols” 安傘文 from Dunhuang. He argues that parasols served as special ritual instruments for guarding the local community. The sacred power of parasols was based on the apotheosis of their practical function of shielding and protecting and was enhanced by the... Read more

Abstract: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Park and the Nagasaki Peace Park are internationally recognized war-related tourist destinations. While these ‘A-bomb’ sites have been often criticized for relying on “victim consciousness”, the discussion of interpretation and presentation of these sites has become extremely complex. Comparing two war-related destinations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this talk discusses... Read more

Who benefits? Canada and the TPP, a discussion with federal Cabinet Minister Chrystia Freeland Please join us for a panel discussion on the TPP with The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade and MP for University-Rosedale. This is part of a national consultation tour. Date: 6:30pm, Tuesday, January 12th Venue: Liu Institute for Global... Read more

Myanmar’s historic 2015 elections have fulfilled a promise made to the population of Myanmar 25 years ago to end decades of military rule through a peaceful, democratic transition. The results, predicted by very few inside or outside of Myanmar, produced a landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, not only in... Read more

2015

“The China Dream” (Zhongguo meng), which Chinese President Xi Jinping invoked in a March 2013 speech, has since become the signature ideology of the Xi administration. China should be aspirational. Like Hu Jintao’s “Harmonious Society” (hexie shehui), the phrase has been actively promoted by the Chinese Party-state as a means to unify the populace with... Read more

Abstract: In his talk, drawing on his new book The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy (Princeton University Press), Daniel A. Bell will make the following assumptions: (1) it is good for a political community to be governed by high-quality leaders; (2) China’s one-party political system is not about to collapse; (3)... Read more

Dr. Daisaku Higashi Deputy Director, Research Center of Sustainable Peace, Institute of Advanced Global Studies, Associate Professor. University of Tokyo. Registration: Click to RSVP Abstract Post-conflict peacebuilding is a critical issue in world politics. Surprisingly, however, there has not been a full examination of concrete policies and implementation strategies to generate legitimacy in “host states”... Read more

The Centre for Korean Research, UBC and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea are pleased to present: 70 Years of Division of the Korean Peninsula: Implications for Peace and Unification Date: Friday, November 20, 2015 Time: 3-5 p.m. Location: Room 120, C.K. Choi Building Speakers: Mr. Kie-Cheon Lee (Consul General, the Consulate General of... Read more

Dr. Bhaskar Chakrabarti will grace CISAR with his presence to present his research on Bhutan, a relatively mysterious and unique nation within South Asia. Bhaskar Chakrabarti is a Professor of Public Policy & Management at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta works in the area of local democracy, environment, and everyday politics. Bhutan oscillates between... Read more

Abstract: Readers and scholars of monogatari—court tales written between the ninth and the early twelfth century (during the Heian and Kamakura periods)—have generally agreed that much of their focus is on amorous encounters. They have, however, rarely addressed the question of whether these encounters are mutually desirable or, on the contrary, uninvited and therefore aggressive.... Read more

A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION About the Event On November 7, 2015, Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping met in Singapore. The meeting was duly recognized as being historic: it was the first time that the political leaders of China and Taiwan had ever met. It was also acknowledged as an event of global importance: the world has... Read more

Join us on Friday, November 13th, for a deeper look into the role of art in times of disaster, featuring Raghavendra Rao, an incredibly talented CISAR Research Associate. Raghavendra Rao is an artist from Bangalore living in Vancouver, Canada since 2012. He graduated from Ken School of Art; Bangalore in 1990 and over the last... Read more

Abstract While development of innovation brings about major changes to our daily life, issues such as the spread of infectious diseases as well as malnutrition and poverty in developing countries still remain unresolved. As a result, the gap between developed and developing countries continues to widen. The same can be said for post-war Japan when... Read more

The University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APFC) would like to bring to your attention an event on Canada-China relations to be hosted at UBC on the day of November 12th. The year of 2015 marks the 45th anniversary of the exchange of diplomatic relations between Canada and China. UBC and APFC are... Read more

Abstract In Taiwan or China, it is easily to notice that a large of common words or idioms can connect to the cultural connotations of He-Yuan合院architecture. For example, the idioms quoted from the classic stories of “Lun-Yu”論語 — “wàn-rèn-gōng-qiáng”萬仞宮牆（palace wall higher than ten thousand meters）, “fèn-tǔ-zhi-qiáng”糞土之牆（wall of dirty soil）, and “dēng-táng-rù-shì”登堂入室（pass through the hall into... Read more

In this talk, Dr. Christensen will argue that the placement of celebrities within a nationalist discourse, whilst hardly a new phenomenon, is an approach deserving of re-evaluation in light of the recent recognition of transnational cultural flows within film theory as well as the particular complexities of Hong Kong’s historical position and the rising power... Read more

Some of the most enduring and dangerous territorial disputes seem to display the characteristic of so-called issue indivisibility, with at least one side of a dispute taking a position of all-or-nothing. Moreover, historical ownership is frequently invoked in such disputes to justify uncompromising policy stances. We investigate these phenomena by developing a theoretical argument for... Read more

Minako: Last Geisha of the Yoshiwara Documentary movie on the last living geisha of the Yoshiwara district Brief presentations on geisha and Edo culture by director Makoto Yasuhara and Edo specialist Kenji Watanabe, followed by a screening of Minako Minako: Last Geisha of the Yoshiwara Director Makoto Yasuhara spent six years getting to know... Read more

You’re welcome to join us whatever your background or interest in Classical/Literary texts. We will be reading primary sources, generally connected to the participants’ research interests, with a center of gravity in the Ming but by no means exclusive to that period (hence the name). The goal is to work together on language skills, to... Read more

The Birth of Nishikawa Sukenobu’s Shunpon: “Sex” and Publishing Culture Professor Takashi Nakajima (Waseda University) Illustrated three-volume works by Nishikawa Sukenobu—said even to be the cause of the government’s publishing restrictions of the Kyōhō era—were revolutionary shunpon (pornographic books) because of a particular rich aesthetic consciousness. Iro hiinagata (1711) and Nasake hiinagata (1712), written by... Read more

This seminar discusses glossolalia (“speaking in tongues”) and cacophony in settings of fervent group prayer among Protestant Christians in Seoul. Ethnographic field data on prayer, preaching, music, and other features of Christian worship reveal how processes of semiotic intensification and the production of unintelligible speech contribute to collective experiences of spiritual contact. The analysis develops... Read more

The Maiden at Dōjōji Temple: Performance Interpretations A Lecture and Demonstration on the Art of Kabuki 6:00 – 7:30 pm Thursday, October 22 Frederic Wood Theatre (6354 Crescent Road, University of British Columbia) Free of charge Nakamura Gankyō was born and raised in Southern California. He is the first non-Japanese citizen to become a professional Kabuki actor,... Read more

Abstract China’s entry in modernity was not just traumatic, but uproarious. As its last dynasty fell and was replaced by a republic, political and cultural discussion erupted into invective, with critics gleefully jeering and deriding rivals in public. Farceurs drew followings in the popular press, promoting a culture of practical joking and buffoonery. These various... Read more

Lunchtime Lecture Series featuring Professor Nakano Kiwa (Daito Bunka University; visiting scholar, Department of Anthropology) How Do People Reconstruct Former Disaster Areas? －The Case of Genkai Island : Fukuoka Prefecture Western Offshore Earthquake－ ABSTRACT After the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, rebuilding the devastated area became a major challenge. Many areas... Read more

Abstract China’s Civil War is a social history of the 1945-9 civil war that brought the Chinese Communist Party to power. It integrates history and memory to help to understand a period of intense upheaval. Drawing from biographies, memoirs, illustrations and oral histories the book gives voice to those who experienced the war at first... Read more

%Oct 14 12:00 pm Room 310, Neville Scarfe Building

Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness – Visiting Scholars Program with the support of the Centre for Japanese Research, the Department of History, and the Department of Language and Literacy Education Nobuyoshi Takashima University of the Ryukyus, Japan “The Threat of Revisionism to Japanese History Textbooks: State Intervention and Citizen Resistance” Wednesday 14... Read more

A panel of experts will gather to discuss the issues around the international dispute over the South China Sea. This event features a presentation by Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Senior Associate Justice of the Philippines Supreme Court. What are the implications of China’s recent buildup in these waters? What should the Philippine response be? And... Read more

Abstract: The US dollar has long been the dominant currency in the international monetary system, providing great geopolitical advantages to the United States. Today, many observers predict that China’s yuan is destined to surpass America’s greenback, perhaps even before the end of the present decade. Benjamin Cohen, however, disagrees. A look back over the last... Read more

http://www.ddmba.ca/ddmba/upcoming_special.php?id=92 This academic workshop, co-sponsored by Dharma Drum Vancouver Center and the UBC Buddhist Studies Forum and supported by the Centre of Japanese Research, brings together scholars to discuss Buddhism and other East Asian religions from a variety of perspectives. Free of charge and open to the public. Sponsor: UBC Buddhist Studies Forum, Dharma Drum... Read more

Ahmad Zahir Faqiri is a former Diplomat for Afghanistan and is going to be delivering a lecture in Room 120 of the C.K Choi Building, 4pm to 5:30pm on Wednesday September 30th. This lecture will focus on the dynamics and driving factors of the China -Indian relationship are with particular focus on maritime security, economics, energyscourge of regional terrorism and bilateral dialogue.... Read more

Join us for the livestream of the Munk Debates’ first-ever federal election debate on Canada’s foreign policy and watch federal party leaders debate the major international challenges and opportunities facing the country. A discussion panel from 6pm to 7pm will follow the debates. Several IAR professors will partake in the panel including Dr. Brian Job... Read more

Difference, diversity and disagreement are inevitable features of our ethical, social and political landscape. Dissent on Core Beliefs investigates the ways that various ethical and religious traditions have dealt with intramural dissent. The volume considers the traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, liberalism, Marxism, South Asian religions, and natural law. The collection begins a... Read more

Join us for a discussion of Nepal’s experiences with relief and reconstruction after the devastating earthquakes of April and May 2015. Speakers will give brief presentations highlighting economic, engineering, linguistic and socio-political dimensions of earthquake response in Nepal, with a focus on Vancouver-linked initiatives. Moderator Dr Tsering Shakya, Institute of Asian Research, UBC Speakers Dr... Read more

**Note: The event location has been changed to The Dodson Room in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.** Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz is a leading scholar on the causes of inequality and a strong advocate for political and economic reform to address its consequences. He is a former senior vice president and chief economist of... Read more

What are the three things that every Canadian should know about social media in China? Is state control of social media tightening as much as many commentators outside China are warning? In light of new legislation and regulations, what are the prospects for virtual civil society in the cyber domain? Please join us for a... Read more

The theme of this conference, “PRC Environmental Tradeoffs: Modern China’s Environment, Science, and Landscapes”, aims to create synergy among Pacific Northwest scholars engaged in environmental studies of China, to explore the relationship between China’s policies/politics, history, and physical environment, and to investigate issues of different effects (social-ecological) at different scales. Three panels will address issues... Read more

The Centre for India and South Asia Research invites you to its Open House on Sept. 18, 2015 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the C. K. Choi Building. The Open House will showcase CISAR’s achievements over the 2014 to 2015 academic year and will feature a cultural performance by UBC students. Refreshments will be... Read more

Sponsor: Centre for Chinese Research, the Institute of Asian Research Type: Seminar Dr. Sohn will argue that, to avoid overdependence on existing global institutions, East Asia has been pursuing a counterweight strategy by developing regional supplements without antagonizing key players outside the region. He will also identify key factors that may shape the future development... Read more

The presentation examines challenging security issues that the Republic of Korea face today including North Korea policy, future of ROK-U.S. alliance, relations with the PRC and Japan, re-unification of Korean Peninsula, and the roles of Global Korea. Several controversial and contending policy debates will be introduced with related illustrations and anecdotes. Also, a number of... Read more

The speaker, Professor Yu Keping, will make a general observation of the dominant processes and breakthrough points of China’s political reforms towards democratic governance over the last 35 years since the Reform. His speech will summarize the major achievements and the ongoing challenges of China’s democratic governance. It will offer a brief analysis and reflection... Read more

Japan’s 19th-century entry into international society was sudden, dramatic, and fraught with danger, both domestic and international. Between 1853 and 1899 Japan reinvented itself as a modern sovereign state, shedding its historical isolation and long-standing patterns and practices of politics and governance. A crucial task Japanese leaders faced was figuring out how to conform to... Read more

Join us for an upcoming symposium on Buddhism and Contemporary Philosophy hosted by UBC’s Evan Thompson and Jessica Main. We are pleased to welcome Bronwyn Finnigan, Tom Tillimans, and Koji Tanaka through the support of the Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation, supported by The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society... Read more

David Hume and the founders of the modern economy argued that it is critical for a government to protect the property rights of its citizens. It is unclear, however, if this applies to foreign-owned property as well: government leaders often attest that expropriations increase public welfare and, by international law, an expropriation is only legal... Read more

China’s President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have emphasized several times that the Shanghai free trade zone (FTZ) should accelerate reforms, especially financial reforms, and replicate them elsewhere in China as soon as possible. Thus, the undergoing reforms in Shanghai FTZ are indeed the future macroeconomic policies in China. As a senior government consultant,... Read more

Renowned for his coverage of China’s elite politics and leadership transitions, sinologist and veteran China journalist Willy Wo-Lap Lam is the author of five books analyzing China’s political front figure since Zhao Ziyang. His most recent book, “The Rise of Xi Jinping and the Closing of the Chinese Mind”, explores how a relatively undistinguished regional... Read more

Two major earthquakes, one 7.8 magnitude on April 25 and another 7.4 magnitudes on May 12, struck Nepal, killing more than 8,600 people, injuring over 18,000 others, and displacing more than half a million families. The disaster is expected to worsen with landslides that have started to occur in the Himalayan nation and the monsoon... Read more

Republic of China Chair and China historian, Dr. Timothy Brook, will be interviewing Dr. Wood on their shared experience as students in China during the Cultural Revolution. About the Event Republic of China Chair and China historian, Dr. Timothy Brook, in an extended interview of Dr. Frances Wood on their shared experience as students in... Read more

In celebration of UBC Library’s centennial, author and former British Library curator of Chinese collections Dr. Frances Wood, will speak on the movement of ideas and icons across Central Asia facilitated by the Silk Road trade routes. The rich variety of religions was evidenced by the great cache of manuscripts discovered in Dunhuang in 1900.... Read more

Buddhism, like many forms of “spirituality,” tends to be divorced from the needs for collective social transformation. As Buddhism interacts with democratic societies, there is an opportunity for an integration of personal and public via the traditional technologies of “waking up.” David argues that there is an important parallel between what Buddhism says about our... Read more

CANCELLED The Centre for India and South Asia Research at the Institute of Asian Research is pleased to invite you to its annual Open House on April 21, from 3-6 pm at the C.K. Choi Building lounge. We are excited to showcase the Centre’s achievements in the last academic year, 2014-2015 and there will be... Read more

There has been a widespread perception that politics in South Korea and Taiwan have become increasingly polarized in recent elections. Are the electorates in both countries also polarized, and if so, what are the sources of this polarization? Visiting Scholar Hyunji Lee will briefly discuss some common causes of the recent social movements in both... Read more

Beginning in the Song dynasty (960-1279) cities and urban life in China began to be represented in new ways, and in ever greater abundance. Maps of cities began to be produced and circulated in new formats and contexts, including gazetteers, guidebooks, and travel narratives. This talk will explore a variety of images of cities, including... Read more

This 5th Dialogue hosted by UBC Dialogue hopes to exchange ideas and provide a greater flow of communication between Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau by overseas students from those respective countries in regards to the change in terms of academic participation and freedom, and lifestyle that has come with living in and going... Read more

In Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism, Alan Cole traced the development of a distinctive Buddhist discourse on filial piety. He focussed exclusively on mothers and sons, but there is much that could be said about Buddhist father-daughter relationships. Most famously, father-daughter conflict and reconciliation drives the plot of The Precious Scroll of Incense Mountain,... Read more

The UBC Master of Arts Asia Pacific Policy Studies (MAAPPS) program is hosting an International Graduate Conference on contemporary issues in the Asia-Pacific Region. The conference will be an interdisciplinary forum for graduate students to exchange ideas, compare methodologies and discuss current research on contemporary Asia and Asia-Pacific affairs. The conference keynote speech and opening... Read more

In 2010-2011, the “Arab Spring” brought unexpected revolutions to many Middle Eastern and North African countries. Why did these seemingly invincible regimes fall, while China remained durably authoritarian? Many observers credited global media for the political transformations. While the hopes of Arab Spring democracy have proven to be fragile or short-lived, we can profitably explore... Read more

Problems of legitimacy are volatile elements in China’s political system, as in few other regimes. Driven to monopolise all sources of legitimacy, the Marxist-Leninist Party system suffers from a legitimacy deficit. Mechanisms geared to compensate for this deficit are easy to spot: personality cults, hyper- nationalism, megaprojects, factional struggle numerous forms, e.g. anti-corruption drives. China’s... Read more

China seeks to be a global power while preserving an essential Chineseness. Understandable in general terms, this stubborn national identity complex is mainly politically-driven. Outside actors need to understand the internal conversation that dominates and colours the formal positions over a range of national issues, most recently the college curriculum. The controversies need to be... Read more

Professor Zhu Xiaoyang has carried out ethnographic work in Yunnan, China and published several books on developments in China’s villages as well as documentary films. Dr. David Kelly will discuss China’s housing crisis on some of Zhu’s work. About the speaker Concurrently a Visiting Professor at Peking University, Dr. David Kelly leads the governance and... Read more

As the city-state of Singapore mourns its founding father, many around the world are slowly realizing the enormous impact he had on Asian geopolitics and international relations. Former US Secretary of State George P Shultz dubs him a “one-man world intelligence agency”, and in death he has been lauded by the likes of Henry Kissinger,... Read more

China seeks to be a global power while preserving an essential Chineseness. Understandable in general terms, this stubborn national identity complex is mainly politically-driven. Outside actors need to understand the internal conversation that dominates and colours the formal positions over a range of national issues, most recently the college curriculum. The controversies need to be... Read more

Professor Zhu Xiaoyang has carried out ethnographic work in Yunnan, China and published several books on developments in China’s villages as well as documentary films. Dr. David Kelly will discuss China’s housing crisis on some of Zhu’s work. About the speaker Concurrently a Visiting Professor at Peking University, Dr. David Kelly leads the governance and... Read more

As the city-state of Singapore mourns its founding father, many around the world are slowly realizing the enormous impact he had on Asian geopolitics and international relations. Former US Secretary of State George P Shultz dubs him a “one-man world intelligence agency”, and in death he has been lauded by the likes of Henry Kissinger,... Read more

Chair: Brian Job, Associate Director, Institute of Asian Research Discussant: Yuen Pau Woo, Senior Fellow in Public Policy, Institute of Asian Research China’s rise is having a direct impact on our prosperity, our health and well-being, and our security here in Canada. The road to achieving many of our middle-power aspirations now runs through the... Read more

Made by former China Central Television newscaster Chai Jing, “Under the Dome”, the 104-minute, TED-style film drew more than 150 million viewers in the first days after Chai posted it online. In three weeks, Chai’s film has gone from Internet sensation, to being blocked by government censors, to being the subject of a question to... Read more

Public Lecture by Mr. Daniel Ziv, Followed by a Screening of Jalanan Jalanan Jalanan (‘Streetside’), an award-winning 2013 feature-length Indonesian documentary film directed and produced by Daniel Ziv and featuring Jakarta street musicians Bambang “Ho” Mulyono, Titi Juwariyah and Boni Putera. It tells the captivating story of Boni, Ho & Titi, three gifted, charismatic street musicians... Read more

IAR Asia Pacific Forum Presents Canada’s Reawakening: Military, economic and diplomatic vision for the Asia Pacific Please join us for our final APF discussion of the season, which will address Canada’s involvement in the Asia Pacific region today and look at future prospects in the field of: Military and Security: Dr. Brian Job, Liu Institute... Read more

Mr Earl Drake, IAR Honorary Professor and former Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia, will be delivering a Public Lecture on Gayatri Rajapatni, the queen consort of Majapahit’s founder and first king Kertarajasa Jayawardhana, and also the mother of Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi, the queen regnal of Majapahit. Mr Drake asserts that Gayatri’s contributions have been forgotten by posterity,... Read more

What kind of role could and should Japan play in peace building in Afghanistan and the Middle East? Based on his two-year experience in Afghanistan, Consul General Seiji Okada of Japan will disccuss the challenges of peace building and examine the role of Japan in the Middle East ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Mr. Okada joined the... Read more

The Indonesian economy has long been buttressed by the all-important agricultural sector – plantations and commodities remain at the heart of Indonesia’s continued economic growth. However, as Indonesia continues it trajectory towards development, widespread environmental degradation as a result of unsustainable farming practices remains a huge stumbling block. This seminar attempts to tackle head-on Indonesia’s... Read more

Through an examination of writings about tea practice for women I excavate a neglected history of one group of tea practitioners and the reasons why they participated in tea culture. These writings include both privately circulated manuscripts and commercially published texts. I argue that there were two ways in which tea practice for women was... Read more

Speaker Bio Abby Aldrich Rockefeller professor of Asian art at Harvard University, Eugene Wang is widely recognized as one of the more dynamic scholars thinking about the history of Chinese art—from early Buddhist art to contemporary installations—in contemporary terms. He is best known for his award-winning book, Shaping the Lotus Sutra: Buddhist Visual Culture in... Read more

The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society and the UBC Buddhist Studies Forum are delighted to welcome Professor Raoul Birnbaum (University of California, Santa Cruz). He will present a lecture entitled, Biographical Imperatives, Autobiographical Pacts: Hongyi Dashi and the Construction of Buddhist Lives in 20th c. China. The elusive... Read more

The death of young garment worker Chun Tae-il by self-immolation on November 13, 1970 has been widely acknowledged among both activists and scholars as the watershed event for the South Korean democracy movement and for the labor movement in particular. As dissident activists searched for a viable counter-narrative against the powerful developmentalist discourse of the... Read more

Public Lecture by Singaporean sculptor Chong Fah Cheong Singapore’s newspaper of record, The Straits Times, calls him “Singapore’s Most Famous Unknown Artist”. Fah Cheong is a self-taught artist whose style ranges from the abstract to the figurative. He uses wood, stone and bronze as mediums to create sculptures that interpret society and social issues. Many... Read more

IAR Asia Pacific Forum Presents The Environmental Dilemma – Winners and Losers in Asia Please join us for an interdisciplinary discussion on how environmental issues like food security, waste management, rising sea levels and air pollution affect government policy and society in general within Asia. Tea and light lunch will be served. Please RSVP here... Read more

Join us for an evening with master Konparu noh actor and cultural envoy Yamai Tsunao. A brief performance and demonstration will be complemented by short presetations from specialists, practiconers, and researchers including Maiko Behr, Stefania Burk, Christina Laffin and Colleen Lanki. We will close the evening with a preview of the noh and chamber opera... Read more

“MIND-DANCING WITH LANGUAGE” A special evening with the acclaimed novelist Shauna Singh Baldwin Languages our families brought from the old country, and that welled up from this land, whisper in the rhythms of our stories. Will you stumble or glide with this tool you’ve received, this English language so filled with biblical references, colonial constructs, and... Read more

This year’s installment of the long-running SACPAN conference is themed “Works in Progress” and involves presentations of current research on South Asia by scholars and graduate students at a number of institutions across the Pacific Northwest. We are pleased to announce that SACPAN 2015 will feature three longer lectures by leading scholars in the field: Sumit Guha (University... Read more

ABSTRACT: Three decades’ market reform has given rise to tremendous transformation in city space, urban governance and community activities in urban China. This talk will present my research concerning housing and community outcomes in urban China against the backdrop of market-oriented urbanism. On the one hand, China’s contemporary urbanism is associated with growing housing disparities... Read more

The Institute of Asian Research is proud to invite Christopher Maclean, Counsellor (Commercial) and Senior Trade Commissioner at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday March 3rd, 2015 from 12:30-2:00pm. A light lunch will be served. ABSTRACT: The rapid changes occurring in China present constantly evolving challenges and opportunities in terms of doing business with China.... Read more

The Future of Japan’s National Security and Defense On July 1, 2014, the Japanese cabinet under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a decision to reinterpret article 9 of the Constitution of Japan, which renounced war power and prohibited armed forces in Japan. This is a radical departure from the past interpretation which totally denied the... Read more

Dr. Brenda Beck is a professor at the University of Toronto and has invested nearly fifty years in the study of Tamil culture and society, making the foucus of much of her research a folk tale she happened upon quite by accident while doing fieldwork in India in 1964-1966. Dr. Beck’s mission has been to... Read more

The Centre for Korean Research is pleased to present “The Scope of Foreign Engagement in the DPRK, 1995-2012” by Andrew Yeo (Catholic University of America). Abstract: What is the scope of foreign engagement inside the DPRK? What are the potential benefits and risks of engagement for various organizations operating inside the DPRK on one hand, and... Read more

Dr EDMUND TERENCE GOMEZ is Professor of Political Economy at the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya. Between 2005 and 2008, he served as Research Coordinator at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), in Geneva, Switzerland. He has held Visiting Professorships at Kobe University (Japan), the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor,... Read more

Press Start is a two-day conference on Japanese videogames to be held at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The event will bring together scholars, players, and game industry representatives for a wide variety of panels and discussions relating to Japanese gaming culture. Press Start is completely free and open to the public... Read more

IAR Asia Pacific Forum & UBC Political Science Student Association Presents Chindia: Leaving the BRICs Behind? Please join us for our seventh meeting which will feature a discussion of rising economies in the context of India’s growth rate surpassing that of China. What does the growth of these two Asian powers mean for the global... Read more

Celebrate the Lunar New Year with the Institute of Asian Research at the C.K. Choi Building. Welcome the year of the sheep with music, food and entertainment! Program Schedule: 12:30pm – 12:45pm (Main Entrance) and 1:00pm – 1:15pm (Room 120) Lion dance performance by the UBC Kung Fu Association 11:30am – 2:30pm (IAR Lobby)... Read more

Speaker bio: Dr. LeRon Harrison is a visiting assistant professor at the University of Oregon who researches Japanese court poetry and its appropriations of Chinese poetics. He also has been playing gagaku (Japanese court music) for 11 years and researches the history of the music in Japan and its importation and growth in America. Abstract:... Read more

IAR Asia Pacific Forum Presents Oil price drops to $50: What is the Impact on Asian Economies? We are looking forward to a stimulating discussion on the cross-disciplinary topic of the falling oil prices and how it will effect the economies of Asia in particular, and the entire globe in general. Please join us and... Read more

Japanese electronics firms such as Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba have set up a wide array of factories, sales offices and management offices over the past 35 years. This study focuses on how their strategies have changed since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Theoretically, Japanese companies should now have a greater opportunity... Read more

A Roundtable Discussion on the Fourth Plenum The Communist Party of China’s fourth plenum sessions are traditionally opportunities for China’s leadership to discuss administrative and ideological strategies and engage in party-building measures. The fourth plenum of the 18th CCP Central Committee in October 2014 focused heavily on the “rule of law” in China. At the... Read more

A lecture demonstration to Indian classical music. Sargam UBC will be presenting the two forms of Indian classical music, namely, the Hindustani and the Carnatic styles. Performers: Sargam UBC is a group involved in promoting Indian Classical Music. It enables students to learn about this form of music through sessions conducted by various artists and also... Read more

About the talk: What growing multipolarity will mean for investors and for Emerging Markets such as China and India in 2015 Investors are going to have to become aware of how geopolitics and economics intersects in the post-Cold War era. A central theme of this era is the rise of global multipolarity. Multipolarity implies that the... Read more

The Meiji period (1868-1912) was a turning point in Japanese society, which underwent a renaissance in law, politics, and social structure. With the renewal of society, cosmetic culture and makeup practices followed suit. Shaved eyebrows and blackened teeth fell out of fashion. Later, Japanese makeup adopted more influences from western cultural aesthetics. This new western... Read more

North Korea is often portrayed in mainstream media as a backward place, a Stalinist relic without a history worth knowing. But during its founding years (1945-1950), North Korea experienced a radical social revolution when everyday life became the primary site of political struggle, including quite deliberately a feminist agenda. With historical comparisons to revolutions in... Read more

About The Speaker: Dr. Christopher Lupke is the editor of The Magnitude of Ming: Command, Allotment and Fate in Chinese Culture (University of Hawai’i Press, 2005) and New Perspectives on Contemporary Chinese Poetry (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). Lupke’s early work centered on the interrogation of the cohesive nation state in contemporary Chinese literature. He has recently... Read more

This workshop focuses on the theory and practice of fieldwork in South Asia, primarily discussing religion and identity in South Asia. Dr. Delage has conducted fieldwork at Sufi shrines in India and Pakistan, and this workshop is an opportunity for graduate students to broaden their perspective on field methods. Some of the questions Dr. Delage... Read more

Please join us for our first APF discussion of 2015 which aims to address the relevance of freedom of speech in the Asia Pacific in connection to religious fundamentalism, in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo publication in Paris, France. Moderator Dr. Tim Cheek, Professor, Institute of Asian Research and the... Read more

South Asia has some of the most complex networks of religious affiliations, and these networks are rooted in history. This session is aimed at discussing contextuality of these networks, with attempts to analyze interactions between devotees and shrines. Dr. Rémy Delage has done extensive research on both India and Pakistan with focus on religious shrines like Shewan... Read more

The UBC Centre for Southeast Asia Research, together with the Southeast Asian Consulates-General in Vancouver and the UBC Southeast Asian student associations, would like to invite you for our 2nd Of Rice and Roots dinner event. Come and meet the Southeast Asian community here in UBC, and take the opportunity to eat and learn more... Read more

Malaysia’s ascension into the ranks of industrialized economies is among the most spectacular in the world. Nonetheless, it faces significant political, social, and economic obstacles as it attempts to reach higher levels of development. This forum brings together renowned scholars of and public figures from Malaysia to examine the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead... Read more

ABOUT THE SPEAKER Mikael Adolphson (University of Alberta) received his degrees from University of Lund, Sweden (1985, BA) and Stanford (1992, MA; and Ph. D, 1996). He was trained as a historian in the tradition of the Annales School. After teaching at Harvard for years, he is now a professor at the University of Alberta.... Read more

The UBC Centre for Japanese Research (CJR) and Department of Asian Studies are proud to co-sponsor a book launch for Professor Sharalyn Orbaugh (UBC Asian Studies / Modern Japanese Literature). Join us on January 13th to celebrate the launch of her new monograph Propaganda Performed: Kamishibai in Japan’s Fifteen Year War (Brill, 2014). This book... Read more

Stéphanie Balme is a member of the faculty at Sciences Po (Paris) as PSIA Professor and CERI Research Fellow, and a Visiting Professor at the Columbia University Law School Alliance Program this fall. At Sciences Po, she runs the “Justice, Law and Society in China” research program. She is also a regular consultant for international organizations... Read more

The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society at UBC is delighted to welcome Professor John Kieschnick (Stanford University) as part of The Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation Distinguished Speaker Series and “Forbidden City” exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. About the Seminar: The “Forbidden City: Inside the Court... Read more

The persistent western interpretation of the Kagerō Diary (Kagerō nikki , 10th century) has been that the author wrote primarily to vent her frustration and disappointment about being married to Fujiwara no Kaneie as the second of his several wives. The author is typically presented as a jealous and unhappy woman. This is more or... Read more

About the Seminar: Sei Shōnagon’s exuberant use of allusions to kanbun (“Chinese-style”) texts presents a key issue for any reading of the Pillow Book, and more broadly for our understanding of gender and literary culture in the Heian court. This talk explores the range of roles played by different kinds of kanbun-related knowledge in Pillow... Read more